Crowd Gatherings Continue to Create Danger at Political Rallies in India

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-08-17 05:19:17 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-17 06:44:18

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Another politician narrowly escapes disaster as a result of excessive crowd enthusiasm at a political rally. What lessons can be learned from these incidents to improve event safety?

DY CM Eknath Shinde has a narrow escape as massive crowd causes stage collapse!

The recent incident of the Dy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, India, Eknath Shinde, escaping a stage collapse due to a crowd push is a alarming reminder of the safety concerns that come with large political rallies.

A recent tweet from the official handle of News18 India showed a clip of the incident, where a group of people could be seen pushing the platform onto which Shinde was standing, causing the entire structure to collapse. The crowd had gathered in large numbers to attend the Dy CM's rally in the Pandharpur town of Solapur, Maharashtra.

The video shows the immediate aftermath of the collapse, with the shocked and displaced crowd slowly stepping away from the fallen debris as officials and bodyguards rush to help Shinde get up and safely move away.

This incident marks another addition to the many tragedies that have occurred during political rallies in India, most often caused by crowd mismanagement.

These incidents include the crushing death of an 18-year-old woman in the 'rath' (chariot) of deity Jaganath in Gujarat's Rajula last year during a festival, and the more recent tragedy at the Rajendra Nagar Metro Station in Patna, where at least nine people died and more than 100 were injured trying to squeeze into the station as they returned after hearing the now-impeached BJP leader, Nitish Kumar, speak.

These incidents cause one to wonder: what is the cause of such disasters? And what measures can be taken to prevent them and ensure safety?

The culprit behind most of these disasters is overcrowding, wherein crowds gather and become unmanageable, either due to an enthusiasm for the speaker, impatience and frustration with management, or simply because of a lack of awareness of the dangers of such actions.

To avoid such disasters, it is imperative that event organizers and political parties implement robust crowd management measures to ensure that such enthusiasm does not become a tragedy.

These measures could include prior risk assessment, planning for crowd control, having emergency action plans, training for staff, and providing clear communication and instructions to attendees, among others.

Only by learning from these incidents and taking preventive measures will stakeholders be able to reduce the risk to life and ensure safety during large political rallies.

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