BJP MP Tejasvi Surya Slams Karnataka Govt Over Bengaluru Stampede, Calls It 'Avoidable'
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Surya said that the government cannot 'blame RCB, Virat Kohli, or even the fans' for the tragedy.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya criticised the Congress-led Karnataka government regarding the Bengaluru stampede, which resulted in 11 fatalities, describing it as an 'avoidable" tragedy caused by 'state-orchestrated" negligence.
He accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of issuing an open invitation to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans without ensuring adequate security and crowd management arrangements, resulting in the loss of lives.
'The stampede was completely avoidable. It was state-orchestrated. Yesterday, the CM put out a tweet giving out an open invitation to everyone, knowing fully well the frenzy of the crowd of fans. He gives this open invitation without making adequate security, safety, and crowd management arrangements," the BJP MP told news agency ANI in Washington, DC.
Surya said that the government cannot 'blame RCB, Virat Kohli, or even the fans" for the tragedy. 'If there is anyone responsible, it is the CM and the DCM who wanted to hog undeserving limelight and made this an entire family function of the Congress leaders," he said.
The BJP MP said that the state government must take responsibility and provide monetary compensation to the families of the deceased, cover expenses of the injured, and generously compensate those who suffered losses. RCB should also stand by its loyal fans in this distressing time.
'Lives that have been lost cannot be brought back. Now, the state government must own up and monetarily compensate the families of those who lost their lives. Some young breadwinners have died in this stampede. The state government must take care of all the expenses of the injured. The government must also compensate generously all the families who have suffered losses," he said.
'No other team enjoys the kind of loyalty and fanfare as the RCB. Bengalurians treat RCB as their own family. We have been there with you in good and bad times, now it's time for RCB to stand up with their fans in times of distress," Surya added.
According to the Karnataka government, 11 people have died and 47 were injured in the stampede, including some who received treatment and went home. A magisterial inquiry has been launched to determine the actual cause of the incident.
Two major factors appear to have contributed to the tragedy: a complete lack of coordination between various agencies, including the law and order police, traffic police, KSCA, and Metro officials, as thousands of people poured into an arena like Chinnaswamy Stadium, which can accommodate only around 32,000 people at a time.
The second was that the crowd's size and behaviour were grossly underestimated as people flooded into the area where the RCB team was being honoured.
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