Kolkata: To avoid a stampede-like situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cut short his speech at a rally in West Bengal’s sprawling Rash Mela ground in Cooch Behar.
Accusing chief minister Mamata Banerjee of ‘acting like a child’, Modi said Banerjee got one portion of the ground covered with bamboo stage to create space crunch. He paused his speech to warn the supporters, saying, “Please sit down. I know there is space crunch because speed breaker didi (Mamata Banerjee) behaved like a kid. She covered a portion of this ground with a bamboo stage. Please don’t move forward. Please don’t climb on the barricade. If something happens to you, your didi will lodge an FIR against me.”
After about 35 minutes, he stopped his speech and left the venue.
In July 2018, around 90 people were injured at his rally in West Bengal’s Midnapore when a marquee collapsed on a section of the crowd in the middle of his speech.
In February too, the Prime Minister had cut short his speech at a rally in North 24 Parganas district after a stampede-like situation broke out at the venue in which several women and children got injured.
The police officials had to form a human chain to stop people from going near the stage, from where Modi was addressing the crowd. While he tried to pacify the crowd by asking them to stay put in their places, his pleas went unheard as supporters started throwing chairs inside the no-man's zone in front of the stage to make space for others to stand in the inner ring, which was earmarked for women. Following the commotion, Modi abruptly cut short his speech, saying he has another rally to attend and decided to leave the venue.
Since then, the PM has been mindful about the duration of his speeches in Bengal and seems to be keeping them short to avoid any untoward incident.
Ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on April 11, this was Modi’s third public rally in less than four days and the first by any prime minister in the last 31 years in Cooch Behar.
On April 3, he had addressed two back-to-back rallies in Siliguri and one in Kolkata’s iconic Brigade Parade Ground.
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