Stampede-like situation as Akhilesh, Rahul leave rally without speaking

PRAYAGRAJ: Chaos prevailed for over an hour at a joint rally of INDIA bloc - attended by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi - at Padila in Phulpur on Sunday. The SP chief left the venue without addressing the crowd after he found the microphones not working, leaving SP supporters in a frenzy. They damaged the barricading and created a ruckus which caused injuries to three persons."As soon as SP national president Akhilesh Yadav left the dais after he failed to address the rally, party supporters went berserk and jumped in front of the dais," an eyewitness said.The SP national president had arrived at the dais around 1.25pm and left the spot at 1.55pm.Later on Sunday evening, Akhilesh posted in Hindi on X: "It wasn't just barricades that were broken. Records of victory margins would also be broken in the elections for Phulpur and Allahabad seats.""The sea of humanity that had turned up at the two meetings indicates that INDIA bloc candidates are all set to register a historic win. The enthusiasm of the people also predicts a historic defeat for BJP, which will thereafter be wiped off public memory," the post said.In a video shared on the official social media handles of both SP and Congress, people on the stage could be heard asking supporters to move back. The appeals made from the stage failed to have any effect on the crowd. Then, Rahul and Akhilesh had a brief discussion before they left the stage while being surrounded by their security staff.