Ahmedabad: A programme organised by local BJP leaders of Bapunagar area of the city to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday took an ugly turn on Thursday after large number of women stormed onto the stage as organisers abruptly announced cancellation of the event, moments before it was about to begin this afternoon.
During the chaos and protests by women, the stage suddenly collapsed, which injured several women, who came there with their daughters to take part in the 'Selfie with Daughter' programme, organised by Madadgar Pariwar, an NGO run by vice president of Gujarat BJP's Yuva Morcha Prakash Gurjar.
According to Gurjar, he had been planning to organise the event for the last one month and roped in several schools and local women residents to set a world record of maximum selfies of mothers and daughters taken at one place.
"To set a Guinness World Record about Selfie with Daughter on Prime Minister's birthday, we had distributed forms among local women and asked them to come here today. We had also roped in 30 schools and invited girl students with their mothers to take part in the event," said Gurjar.
The event was organised at a hall in Bapunagar area of eastern part of city, where these participants were supposed to gather at 1 PM.
"We did not expect that such a large number of participants would turn up, which has led to chaos. Thus, I have decided to cancel today's program," Gurjar told reporters after making an announcement on the same from stage at around 1.30 PM, when the program was supposed to start with lighting of lamp.
After learning about the cancellation of the event, angry women, mostly from lower middle class, rushed near the stage and tried to talk to organisers, who then made a quick exit. According to the women, they were promised earlier that a gift will be given to them along with a form to avail various government benefits, such as Jan Dhan Yojna and widow pension.
When almost 100 such women were present on the stage, it could not bear the weight and suddenly collapsed. Though some women received minor injuries, the mishap left no one severely injured. The collapse further fuelled anger among women, who claimed that they were cheated by the organisers.
"We were told that our daughters will be given gifts at this event. We were also asked to collect forms from the entry gate to avail various benefits. But, neither we got forms nor our daughters were given any gifts. The organisers cheated us and ran away," said Ramila Makwana, who was among many women who came there with their daughters.
After the stage collapsed, many irked women ransacked the furniture and broke chairs kept for the dignitaries. They even shouted slogans against BJP for 'duping' them. Later, Bapunagar police took control of situation and dispersed the angry women.
"The organisers promised to give forms of schemes and some kits to girl students. As many as 15,000 to 20,000 women participants and girls came here, which is double than what organisers expected. This led to chaos after many of them complained of not getting the forms and kits," said Bapunagar Police Inspector R K Ladva.
Angry women participants stormed the stage, which led to collapse. Some broke chairs and other property. Some children also got lost in the chaos. Luckily, they were reunited shortly, Ladva said, adding that organisers should take care while organising such events next time.
