‘Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are the main culprits': BJP protests at Vidhana Soudha over Bengaluru stampede tragedy

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday staged a protest at the steps of Bengaluru's Vidhana Soudha, condemning the Congress-led Karnataka government over the recent stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL victory celebrations.
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Senior BJP leaders, including Karnataka Assembly Leader of Opposition R Ashok and MLA Prabhu Bhamla Chavan, led the demonstration. Holding the state's top leadership directly responsible for the tragedy, the BJP demanded the resignations of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Home Minister G Parameshwara.
'The real culprits are the Chief Minister, the Deputy CM, and the Home Minister. All three should resign. This is the demand of the entire state,' said Prabhu Bhamla Chavan while addressing the media. He further alleged that the suspended police officers were being made scapegoats. 'They are being sacrificed to shield the ministers. We say—don't offer compensation. Instead, take moral responsibility and resign,' he added.
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Echoing similar sentiments, Leader of the Opposition R Ashok launched a scathing attack on the Siddaramaiah government. 'This is not a government—it is a Tughlaq Durbar. The event was organised in haste and without proper planning, resulting in the loss of 11 innocent lives. Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar must step down,' Ashok said. He also demanded that the compensation for each deceased person be raised to ₹1 crore.
The BJP's protest comes days after a stampede occurred outside the stadium on June 4, where tens of thousands of fans gathered to witness the felicitation ceremony of RCB players after their IPL 2025 win. The crowd swell and lack of crowd control reportedly led to chaos, leaving 11 people dead and over 50 injured.