Bengaluru stampede: BJP blames ‘credit war' between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, demands resignations
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led Karnataka government, holding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar responsible for the stampede that claimed 11 lives near Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The party has demanded both leaders resign immediately, alleging a breakdown in coordination and crowd management.
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Thousands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) supporters had gathered outside the stadium to welcome their team after its historic IPL title win. What began as a celebratory moment turned tragic as overcrowding spiraled into chaos, leading to a deadly stampede that also left 33 injured.
Senior BJP leader R Ashoka alleged that a turf war between the chief minister and his deputy had contributed to the confusion. 'This is nothing short of state-sponsored murder,' Ashoka said in a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter). 'There's growing suspicion that the internal tussle for credit between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar led to this disaster,' he added.
Ashoka criticised Deputy CM Shivakumar—who also handles the Bengaluru city portfolio—for skipping on-ground responsibilities. 'He should have been at the venue overseeing preparations. Instead, he was busy posing for photos at the airport,' he alleged. 'The police were clueless until the last minute on whether a victory parade would happen. Basic emergency arrangements like ambulances and fire engines were also missing despite knowing the crowd would be huge.'
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Echoing similar sentiments, BJP national spokesperson and MP Sambit Patra called the tragedy a "government-manufactured stampede" and demanded accountability from the state's top leadership. 'Eleven innocent people are dead and dozens injured because of administrative failure. The CM and Deputy CM must step down,' Patra said.
He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, questioning his silence on the matter. 'Rahul Gandhi never misses a chance to criticise India or the Prime Minister. But where is he now? Will he take action against his own party leaders in Karnataka?' Patra asked, suggesting that Gandhi summon both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar and seek their resignations.
Meanwhile, the DK Shivakumar asked BJP to not politicize such sensitive issues and asked them to show empathy towards the families of victims.
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However, the high court restrained state police from taking coercive action against top officials of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). As the political backlash grew, the Congress government removed chief minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary K Govindaraj and also transferred additional director general of police (ADGP), intelligence, Hemant Nimbalkar on Friday. The government did not reveal the reasons for their removal. However, people aware of the matter said Govindaraj was removed followed criticism of his reported involvement in the event. Govindaraj denied any involvement ahead of his removal. The Opposition BJP and the JD(S) jointly lashed out at the Congress government, saying police officers were being made the 'scapegoats' for the tragedy and alleging that the entire responsibility for the incident lies with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. Karnataka BJP general secretary P Rajeev said he has filed a police complaint seeking legal action against Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and Home Minister G Parameshwara. Shivakumar accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of 'politicising dead bodies', as the opposition party in the state blamed the government for the mayhem. 'They (opposition) are trying to do politics over dead bodies. We are not doing it. We have do they have to target me? In what way am I responsible?' he said. The tragedy occurred on Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of thousands of people thronged the Chinnaswamy stadium. The RCB team landed at the HAL airport at 2.45pm, and were received by Shivakumar. The first felicitation ceremony was organised by the state government at the Vidhana Soudha around 4.30pm. The 11 fans, mainly students or young IT professionals, died after they were caught in the crush at the gates . 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So before that, whatever legal formalities have to be done by our team are being done,' Bengaluru's new police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said. Gomes, 25, in his complaint, said that he reached Gate 17 after seeing social media posts by RCB indicating that the tickets will be issued at the venue and that entry would be allowed without a ticket. He also alleged that RCB publicised a victory parade in an open-top bus. Sosale's lawyers, in his petition, argued that he was detained solely on the basis of an oral directive from the chief minister, without a preliminary inquiry or investigation. 'The Petitioner's arrest is motivated and an attempt to shift the blame of the tragedy to RCSPL and its officials,' the plea said, referring to Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, the company that owns the franchise. KSCA, meanwhile, argued that it had no operational role in the event and merely rented the stadium to RCB's management company. 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