On Sunday, Karnataka's Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressed the chaos outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, calling it a 'tragic and unfortunate incident' that should never have happened. He clarified that he had no association with the event. The Chief Minister stated, 'This event should not have occurred. It happened at the Cricket Stadium and I have no connection to it.'
The stampede occurred on the evening of June 4 outside Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a large crowd had gathered to celebrate the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL victory, resulting in the tragic loss of 11 lives due to disarray. The opposition has demanded the resignation of both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister over this incident.
'The first such incident since becoming CM'
In reaction, Siddaramaiah remarked, 'This is a very unfortunate event. Ever since I assumed the Chief Minister's office, nothing like this has happened before. Initially, it appears to have been caused by an error on the part of the officials, and we have taken action accordingly. Everyone is saddened by this incident, including myself.'
'BJP politicizing the incident'
Responding to the opposition's accusations, he retorted, 'What wrong have I done? BJP is politicizing the issue. They have falsely accused me. Kumaraswamy alleged I threatened the police, which is 100% false. Suddenly, they have become very fond of the police. We have taken strict action against those accused of negligence. BJP and JD(S) demanded a judicial inquiry, and we have set up a commission to investigate. So, what mistake did the government make?'
'Did anyone resign after the Kumbh Mela stampede?'
The Chief Minister also commented, 'If the government has done no wrong, then why should we be embarrassed? If this is the standard, did anyone resign after the Kumbh Mela stampede? A new flyover collapsed before its inauguration, causing hundreds of deaths—did the Prime Minister resign? Did anyone question it? During the Kumbh Mela, 50-60 people died—was a minister asked to resign? Did BJP or Kumaraswamy raise the demand then?'
'Acted as information was received'
He mentioned that he was not invited to the stadium event. The main secretary informed him only about the Vidhan Soudha event, which was the only one he attended. There was no disorder near Vidhan Soudha. The Chief Minister said he received information about the incident at 5:45 PM, although the hospital report came around 3:50 PM.
He stated, 'I wasn’t informed that people had died in the stampede until later. As information came in, we took steps accordingly. This tragedy should not have occurred, yet it happened near the cricket stadium, which has nothing to do with me.'
