Rahul Gandhi on Friday met the families of some of the victims of the July 2 Hathras stampede, whose toll has increased to 126, and promised to raise the issue in Parliament while seeking “adequate compensation” for the bereaved.

He, however, sidestepped reporters’ questions on why Suraj Pal aka Bhole Baba had not been named in the FIR or arrested, just as Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had done on Thursday.

Eyewitnesses have blamed the stampede at Bhole Baba’s satsang in Phulrai village on overcrowding, a lone exit and a narrow passageway, adding that the preacher’s 100-odd bodyguards were in sole control of the venue.

They have alleged the Baba fled the scene instead of staying back to help the victims.

However, “godmen” with large followings have largely remained untouchable in Uttar Pradesh, with ruling and Opposition politicians equally wary of acting or speaking out against them.

A senior police officer attached to the home department in Lucknow on Friday told The Telegraph, seeking anonymity, that the Baba was in his palatial ashram at Bichuva village in Mainpuri district, protected by heavy police security.

News agency PTI had quoted two officials on Thursday as saying the Baba was not at the ashram.

Rahul first visited Pilkhana in Aligarh district, about 90km from Delhi, and met the families of four stampede victims. He then travelled another 110-odd kilometres to Nabipur in Hathras and met three families.

“I personally met the family members and talked about the (dead) mothers and children. They told me that it happened because of the inefficiency of the administration,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha later told reporters.

“There was no proper arrangement from the police. They are in pain and shock. I am trying to understand their situation.”

He added: “I don’t want to see it through a political prism but the shortcomings of the administration should be probed.”

Rahul said the families of the victims were poor and appealed to “the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (Yogi Adityanath) to open his heart and help these people without any delay”.

The state government has announced Rs 2 lakh for the kin of each dead victim and Rs 50,000 for each injured.

In Pilkhana, Rahul met the families of four victims — Manju Devi, Pankaj Kumar, Prem Vati and Shanti Devi.

Shanti Devi’s husband Vijay Singh said: “The Congress leader was here for about 30 minutes and talked to us about the incident. He promised to raise the issue in Parliament.”

Manju Devi’s husband Chhote Lal said: “He didn’t say anything against Bhole Baba.”

In Nabipur, 30km from Phulrai, Rahul met the family members of deceased victims Asha Devi, Munni Devi and Omwati Devi.

Suresh Singh, a relative of Munni Devi, said: “Rahul Gandhi had tears in his eyes when we told him about the incident. We need this kind of leader, who meets victims and feels their pain. We thank him for coming here.”

Baba’s walls

On Friday, four police jeeps were parked outside the 10-foot-high boundary walls of Bhole Baba’s ashram in Mainpuri, whose premises sprawl 21 bighas.

Sources said about 20 policemen had been deployed there under the command of four sub-inspectors to provide security to the Baba, who had expressed fear about possible attacks by the families of the stampede victims.

When reporters asked Aniruddh Pratap Singh, a sub-inspector, the reason behind his deployment there, he said: “I am not supposed to say anything. I have been asked to protect the place.”

Mainpuri superintendent of police Rahul Mithas, who had visited the ashram with his force on Wednesday evening, had said: “We are not here to probe anything; we are assessing the security arrangements here.”

So far, no senior political leader has questioned the Baba’s possible role in the stampede.

Akhilesh had on Thursday said it was the responsibility of the administration to manage the crowd.

Told that the organisers had sought permission for a gathering of 80,000 people but let more than 2.5 lakh in, he had said: “People often arrive in higher-than-expected numbers at such events.”

Many residents of Hathras have, however, demanded the immediate arrest of the Baba.

Gayatri Devi, one of the dozen-odd sevadars (organisers) whose names were written on hoardings at the congregation site, told reporters in Hathras that “the Baba committed a crime by running away from the spot when people were dying”.

“We had faith in him but we were wrong. He should have saved the people if he had divine powers. He is a fraud and should be arrested immediately,” she said.

Gomti Devi, 60, a devotee, who had arrived from Jharkhand and got injured, told reporters after discharge from a hospital in Hathras that the “Baba and his bodyguards left people to die”.

She said that while the satsang was on, she had felt suffocated inside the overcrowded tent but the Baba’s bodyguards, who were in charge, refused help.

“I told a security guard of the Baba to help me get out of the tent but he refused. He said, ‘Take the Baba’s name and everything will be fine’,” she said.

The FIR blames the organisers while naming only their chief, Dev Prakash Madhukar. The police have arrested six sevadars, two of them women.

A.P. Singh, a lawyer representing Madhukar, said on Friday night that he had surrendered before the police.

Merry dance

One striking example of how governments tend to be at the back and call of the heartland’s Babas came in 2013, when Kanpur “godman” Shobhan Sarkar announced he had dreamt that 1,000 tonnes of gold was buried under the palace of one Rao Ram Baksh Singh in Daundia Khera village, Unnao.

He wrote to a minister of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for help.

The Centre got the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the place. Leaders of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, which was in power in Uttar Pradesh, started arguing over how the central and state governments should split the gold when it was found.

Eventually, a few earthen tiles alone were found under the palace after a month’s excavation at a huge cost. Sarkar died in 2020.