Stampede-Like Situation: Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav Leave Without Addressing Rally

Lucknow: Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had to leave a joint election rally in UP’s Phulpur on Sunday without addressing the audience.

Supporters of the Congress leader and Samajwadi Party president broke through barricades and reached the dais to create a ‘stampede-like’ situation when Akhilesh arrived at Padila in Phulpur Parliamentary constituency of Prayagraj.

Akhilesh and Rahul repeatedly requested party workers to settle down and be calm, but their appeals went unheeded.

Police and security personnel struggled to control the crowd.

The Opposition INDIA bloc leaders had a brief discussion before leaving the venue to avoid any possible security-related mishap.

Images of broken barricades and a huge crowd on social media gave an idea of the chaos at the venue of the public meeting.

From Phulpur, Rahul and Akhilesh travelled to Mungari in Karachhana for the second rally in Prayagraj district, under Allahabad parliamentary constituency.

Apart from Wayanad in Kerala, Rahul is contesting from Rae Bareli which will vote in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 20.

The other seats in UP which will vote on Monday are Mohanlalganj (SC), Amethi, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi (SC), Barabanki (SC), Faizabad, Kaisarganj and Gonda.

UP and West Bengal are the only two states where voting will be held in all seven phases.