Lucknow, April 12
An anguished Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee tonight consoled the family members of those who were killed in a stampede in his Lok Sabha constituency during a saree distribution on the occasion of birthday of senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon.“We are drowned in grief,” said Mr Vajpayee, who flew in here cutting short his electioneering in Jharkhand on hearing about the tragedy here, and went straight from the airport to King George’s Medical University campus meeting the family members of the deceased.
As the Prime Minister shared the grief of the family members, several of whom were women and aged males, he told them that the investigation into the stampede, which left 21 people dead, would take time and appealed for patience.
Mr Vajpayee told the victims’ family members that he had sanctioned Rs 1 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the next of kin of the deceased.
The BJP, he said, too had announced Rs 1 lakh for the next of kin of the dead, Rs 50,000 for seriously wounded and Rs 25,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
The Prime Minister was briefed about the stampede by Lucknow District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of police.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has also decided to give ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of those killed, Rs 50,000 each to the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 to those with minor injuries. It has also sought the Election Commission’s permission to hand over the money. —
PTI
