‘Didn't criticise Kumbh deaths': Siddaramaiah deflects Opposition's questions on Bengaluru stampede
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday sought to deflect the Opposition's questions about the Bengaluru stampede, saying he didn't criticise the UP government over the Maha Kumbh stampede. The Congress leader added that he will not justify the incident by comparing it to other tragedies.
Eleven people died and 33 sustained injuries in the stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium during RCB IPL win celebrations.
This remark from the state chief minister came after leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Congress government of "negligence" and "mismanagement."
ALSO READ | RCB victory celebrations turn deadly, 11 killed in Bengaluru stampede, several injured
In response to the blame game, the Congress leader highlighted the stampede at the Maha Kumbh 2025 mela, and said that the state "did not criticise" the deaths.
"Such incidents happened in many places; I am not going to defend it by comparing them and saying that it happened here and there... 50-60 people died in Kumbh Mela. I did not criticise. If Congress criticises, then that is a different matter. Did I or the Karnataka government criticise?" the Karnataka CM said.
"I don't want to defend this incident. Our government will not do politics on this. I have ordered a magisterial inquiry and given 15 days. People even broke the gates of the stadium. There was a stampede. No one expected such a huge crowd. The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 2-3 lakh people came," CM Siddaramaiah added further, as per ANI.
The incident took place after a large number of fans gathered outside the stadium in hopes of catching a glimpse of the RCB stars.
The team of Royal Challengers Bangalore was set to hold a victory procession to mark their first IPL title win in 18 years.
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