The BJP on Thursday demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, alleging that the “mutual fight and rift” between the two led to the state “government-manufactured stampede”.
Eleven people died and 33 were injured in the stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru as thousands of fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the RCB team after its first-ever IPL win.
BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the “mutual fight and rift” between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar led to the state “government-manufactured stampede”.
He recalled last year’s arrest of Telugu actor Allu Arjun in a stampede case in Telangana, where the Congress is in power, and asked if the party would follow the “same principle” in Karnataka and ensure the arrest of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
He also slammed Rahul Gandhi and asked him to break his silence on the incident, and make the chief minister and the deputy chief minister step down.
“This is clearly the failure of the state government, and the state government will have to own up to it. The chief minister and the deputy chief minister will have to resign for the deaths of 11 innocent people and those who suffered injuries in the incident,” Patra said.
The BJP leader said cricket is like a religion in the country, and victory marches have been organised in the past too, but only after ensuring proper arrangements — usually three to five days after the event.
“Everybody knows that cricket fans will hit the streets to join celebrations… such events should be organised only after proper arrangements are in place,” he said.
“We saw KKR’s victory march two days after they won. CSK held victory march three days after winning,” Patra said.
“But in Karnataka, just because DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah wanted a photo op, they forced this event to be organised within 12 hours (of the team’s victory),” he claimed.
There was no coordination between the organisers and the police, he alleged.
“… Look at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s audacity, he is trying to normalise a stampede in which 11 innocent people died. He says such stampedes keep happening in other places.
“And, the worst part was that felicitations continued while the deaths were happening. A celebration was on… Shivakumar was smiling on the stage while people were dying under the stage. You were smiling while standing on dead bodies,” Patra charged.
“Who authorised the event to continue despite deaths?” he asked, “Neither Kannadigas nor India will forgive the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.” Taking on Gandhi, the former Congress chief and the current Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Patra said, “Where is Rahul Gandhi, who keeps on making fun of India, speaks against India every day, makes fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Army, and says it’s his democratic right?” “Where is he hiding? Will Rahul Gandhi pose questions to D K Shivakumar and Siddharamaiah’s tweets (posts on X) on this issue and summon them to Delhi? Will he ask them to resign?” the BJP leader said “We are waiting for his response also. We hope Rahul Gandhi, you will come out and speak and take action against your leader since you run the government in Karnataka,” he added.
Citing media reports that police had not given permission for the event, Patra said there are many questions that the Karnataka government needs to answer.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal has said the BCCI did not know about this event, he said.
“The event was organised even though the police did not give any permission for it. On whose instruction was the event held? Who is responsible for this victory march?” he asked Patra said Shivakumar himself revealed that the stadium could accommodate 35,000 people, but a crowd of 3 lakh had gathered for the event.
“If the capacity of the stadium was 35,000, why did you allow 3 lakh people to join the victory march? Why 25,000 extra tickets were sold?” the BJP leader asked, targeting the Karnataka government.
Another BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said Bengaluru city traffic police had clearly stated on X on Wednesday that there would be no victory parade and later deleted the post.
“At 1:08 pm, Bengaluru city traffic police clearly tweeted that there would be no victory parade. By 3:14 pm, RCB tweeted the parade is on at 5 pm. Shortly after — the Police deleted their tweet,” Bhandari wrote on X, with screenshots of their posts.
“Why the U-turn? Who ordered the deletion? Why was the public misled?” he asked, adding, “The chief minister and deputy chief minister are directly accountable.” BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla termed the stampede “man-made state-sponsored tragedy” and demanded that the chief minister and deputy chief minister must be be held accountable for death of people in the incident.
“The celebration was turned into complete chaos, carnage and catastrophe…But, Karnataka government is giving clean chit to itself, patting its back and blaming the crowd. This shows the attitude of the Congress,” he charged.