Bengaluru: Union Minister for Large and Heavy Industries, HD Kumaraswamy, has said that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is responsible for the unfortunate stampede incident near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru that claimed the lives of 11 people and left 30 others injured. 

The incident happened on Wednesday while people were trying to enter the stadium to participate in the celebration event organised to mark the occasion of Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning its first-ever Indian Premier League trophy.

Addressing a late-night press conference at his official residence in New Delhi, Kumaraswamy held the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister's impatience, immaturity, and irresponsible behaviour responsible for the incident. The Union Minister demanded that "the person responsible for this tragedy must be immediately sacked from the Cabinet".

He criticised the Congress government in Karnataka as being run by "arrogant fools" and added, "It pains me to say this, but we have a Chief Minister who is completely inactive. He has no control over the Deputy Chief Minister. As for the Home Minister, there's no point even discussing, he merely obeys commands. If told to sit, he sits; if told to stand, he stands."

Referring to the state government's felicitation event near Vidhana Soudha, Union Minister Kumaraswamy said, "While four people lay dead in a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Deputy CM Shivakumar continued with the felicitation ceremony as if nothing had happened. How else do you describe such a government other than calling it an arrogant one?" 

"Who rushed to the airport on Wednesday morning to receive the team? Who turned it into an event? It was just the Deputy CM and his entourage. Was this DK Shivakumar's RCB team?" he asked.

"Why hold two separate events? One programme, well-organised with proper preparation, would have been enough. There should have been appropriate security and caution. Instead, everything was rushed simply to glorify himself (Deputy CM Shivakumar). As a result of this recklessness, sports fans lost their lives," Union Minister Kumaraswamy said.

He criticised the Deputy Chief Minister's conduct at the stadium, saying: "After his show at Vidhana Soudha, the Deputy CM reached the stadium. Right outside the stadium lay the bodies of the deceased. Rather than stopping the event, he walked into the ground, lifted the trophy, and kissed it. Did he play the match and win the cup himself? Perhaps even the players didn't get the opportunity to touch the trophy. In the middle of deaths, he used RCB's win for his own PR and self-glorification."

The Karnataka BJP unit has demanded the resignation of Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and said that the underlying conflict between Deputy CM Shivakumar and the State Home Minister for the credit war has resulted in the tragedy of the death of 11 persons in the stampede during the celebration event of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and BJP leader, R Ashoka, said that the deaths due to the stampede are government-sponsored murders. "Deputy CM and Bengaluru In-charge Minister Shivakumar, who should have been at the spot overseeing the arrangements, instead went to the airport for a photo opportunity. Until the very last moment, the police lacked clarity on whether a parade should even take place," Ashoka said while criticising the Congress-led state government.

"There were no precautionary measures like ambulances, fire tenders, or any other emergency services near the stadium, where lakhs of people were expected to gather," he added. "The Congress government's reckless mismanagement has turned what should have been a moment of joy and celebration for the IPL champions, the RCB team, into a moment of tragedy, claiming innocent lives today," he added.

Ashoka along with the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and BJP leader, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, visited the Vaideshi hospital and spoke to families and relatives of the injured persons.

The Karnataka government has said that at least 11 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in the stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The state government has announced ₹10 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased and also ordered a magisterial probe.

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