A stampede-like situation arose in
Congress’ “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon” run organised by party leader
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when some girls participating in the event suffered
injuries on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district.

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Shocking visuals from
the long-distance run showed hundreds of girls, falling over each other and
crying for help as the Congress party workers tried to pick distressed children. Importantly, most of the students were not wearing masks
despite the danger of contracting COVID-19 and omicron variants of coronavirus.

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Congress leaders in Lucknow termed the
incident a conspiracy conceived by the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government.

“Some girls have been injured, and we are
waiting for further details,” state Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh told
PTI.

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He also alleged that the government did not
cooperate with them to hold the event. 
“The district administration knew that the run was being held and
did not cooperate,” Singh said, before adding that the incident was a
“fallout of laxity on the part of the local administration”.

“The district administration did not
cooperate as far as the issue of security was concerned and the entire incident
smells of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP,” the Congress leader said.

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BJP hit back 

In response to Ashok Singh’s allegation,
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya slammed the Congress
as the party’s marathon rally organised in Bareilly turned out to be a
disaster. He blamed Congress for not making proper arrangements.

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“There is no future of Congress in
Uttar Pradesh. The party has a very bad mindset. They should have made proper
arrangements. (Due to no proper arrangements) the stampede-like situation
happens. I hope the girls in Bareilly are safe,” Maurya told Republic.

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Uttar Pradesh is set to undergo polling in
February-March for which BJP, Congress and other regional parties, including SP
and BSP, have started campaigning.