Varanasi stampede: Sheila Dikshit blames lax police, organizers

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Oct 17 (ANI): Congress' chief ministerial candidate in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election Sheila Dikshit on Monday blamed the state administration for the killing of 24 people in the Varanasi stampede during a sabha of Baba Jai Gurdev. She said that there was lapse on the part of the organisers and the police to handle the situation here. "We are here to show our condolences to the deceases family. It was a very unfortunate incident. This event takes place every year so; somewhere there was a lapse in the party of police and organizers to handle it," she told ANI here. At least twenty-four people, including 20 women, were killed and more than 60 others injured in a stampede as thousands of followers of religious guru Jai Gurudev scrambled to cross a bridge in Varanasi on October 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, spoke to the officials and enquired about the incident. He also offered his condolences to the victims and announced a financial aid of Rs. Two lakh each to the families of those who died in the stampede and Rs. 50,000 to those injured. (ANI)