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At least someone bothered to visit: Locals on Rahul Gandhi’s Hathras visit

During his visit, Gandhi said there were lapses on the part of the administration and mistakes had been made which should be identified.

HATHRAS: “Everyone is busy doing politics. It is good that at least someone bothered to come here,” says Vineet Kumar, 26, outside a park in Hathras’ Vibhav Nagar area where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met the families of the July 2 stampede victims.

Kumar, who is preparing for the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination, is not the only one who feels this way.

Some other youngsters 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.

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, also a 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 the key routes in the city.

The street leading to the meeting venue, Green Park, in Vibhav Nagar had deployment every few metres and barricades restricting entry of cars while shops on the route remained closed till Gandhi left the area.

People gathered on the terraces of their homes and had unusual guests — security personnel — for company.

This PTI correspondent saw some security personnel closely monitoring the scene, some with binoculars.

Not everyone was excited about the VIP visit.

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