NEW DELHI: At least 21 women were trampled to death yesterday in a stampede triggered by the ruling party's attempt to distribute free saris a week before elections are due to begin.
About 5000 women gathered to receive the free saris at a tent festooned with election banners in the northern city of Lucknow.
Lucknow is the constituency of the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the tragedy comes as a major embarrassment to his Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to win a renewed mandate in the nationwide elections.
