Today, On 6th June, In the Bengaluru stampede case, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the Karnataka government’s handling of the situation, stating, “I don’t do politics, we have taken action,” amid rising criticism over the tragic incident during RCB celebrations.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday for politicizing the recent stampede at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which resulted in 11 fatalities.
His comments followed BJP’s allegations that the Congress-led government was using the police as a “scapegoat” for the tragedy.
Also Read: RCB Stampede| Karnataka State Cricket Association Moves High Court to Challenge FIR
CM Siddaramaiah stated that the “government has already taken action against officials deemed visibly responsible and negligent in their duty.”
He remarked,
“They are doing it for politics. I don’t do politics. We have taken action against those who were visibly responsible and found to be negligent in their duty.”
In response, Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra accused the state government of only acting under pressure.
He stated,
“The state government has acted only after coming under pressure… Action has been taken against RCB and the Karnataka Cricket Association. Yesterday, the Chief Minister suddenly suspended senior police officers, including the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, and five other officials.”
He further blamed senior cabinet members, including CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, and Home Minister G. Parameshwara, demanding an investigation into their roles.
The state BJP president asserted,
“The real accused is none other than Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Accused no. 2 is Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Accused no. 3 is Home Minister G. Parameshwara. They must truly be subjected to investigation,”
Following the tragic incident on June 4, the Karnataka police suspended several IPS officers, including Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda.
Senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh has since assumed the role of city police commissioner. In addition to Dayananda, several other officers were also suspended immediately.
Also Read: CID to Probe Bengaluru Stadium Stampede That Killed 11: Karnataka Govt Tells High Court
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Police has filed an FIR against the Karnataka Cricket Board Administrative Committee and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), among others.
In response, the KSCA has submitted a writ petition to the High Court seeking to quash the FIRs against it. The KSCA board, including President Raghuram Bhat, Secretary A. Shankar, and Treasurer E.S. Jairam, has requested the cancellation of the FIR.
A hearing on the petition is scheduled for this afternoon before Justice Krishna Kumar.