At least someone bothered to visit: locals on Rahul Gandhi's Hathras visit

"Everyone is busy with politics. It is good that at least someone bothered to come here," says Vineet Kumar (26), outside a park in the Vibhav Nagar area of Hathras, where Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met families of the 2 July stampede victims.

Kumar, who is preparing for the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination, is not the only one who feels this way. Other young people echoed the sentiment. "It is okay if the reason behind his visit is to meet the (stampede) victims. At least a popular politician has turned up in Vibhav Nagar," Shubham Bharti (27) told PTI on Friday, 5 July.

Mahendra (26) said people were excited to see Gandhi. "We also wanted to come here but the area around Vibhav Nagar was barricaded in the morning," said Mahendra, another government job aspirant.

Ahead of Gandhi's visit, a multi-layered security ring was thrown around the area, with a large number of security personnel deployed along key routes in the city. The street leading to the meeting venue, Vibhav Nagar's Green Park, had deployment every few metres and barricades restricting entry of cars, while shops on the route remained closed until Gandhi left the area.

Gandhi, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, met the families of some of the victims of the Hathras stampede, which claimed 121 lives.

During his visit, Gandhi said there were lapses on the part of the administration and mistakes had been made which should be identified. He urged Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to release the maximum compensation for the victims' families without any delay.

Police have so far arrested six sevadars (volunteers) who were members of the organising committee of the satsang (religious gathering) of Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba held in Phulrai village. The self-styled godman has not been named in the police FIR.

Gandhi last visited Hathras in October 2020 with his sister and Congress general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra amid high drama to meet the family of a Dalit girl who had died a fortnight after she was allegedly raped outside her village in the Chandpa area.