Bengaluru Stampede: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government after 11 people lost their lives and around 25 were critically injured due to overcrowding outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as fans gathered to have a glimpse of their favourite cricketers following the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s maiden IPL title win. On Tuesday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifted their maiden IPL title since the inception of the tournament 18 years ago. The Karnataka State Cricket Association has organised a felicitation ceremony for all RCB players at the stadium but the lack of crowd management measures made the situation worse.
“…Many are battling for life after a stampede due to the irresponsibility of Congress govt. No crowd control measures. No basic arrangements. Just chaos. While innocent people died, Siddaramaiah & D K Shivakumar were busy shooting reels & hogging the limelight with cricketers. Shame on this photo-op Congress government. This is criminal negligence. Blood is on the hands of the Congress government,” said the BJP.
Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra arrived at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital where the injured were admitted for treatment. “The state government should take full responsibility for this tragedy. When the whole country and Karnataka were celebrating RCB’s victory, the state government’s haste to hold a victory rally without any prior preparations led to this tragedy. The state government never cared about prior preparations. They were more interested in publicity. This resulted in the death of more than 11 people. Some people are in ICU. I spoke to some victims, but there were no police inside, and no ambulance facility. The CM should send the matter for judicial investigation,” said Vijayendra.
Visuals showed police carrying injured and unconscious individuals to a nearby hospital. Many people who had gathered to witness the celebrations fainted amid the stampede. Police also briefly lathicharged crowd to disperse them.
Reacting to the casualties, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that he is pained by the loss of lives. “The people who were supposed to witness RCB’s IPL victory celebration have tragically passed away, causing deep pain and shock. My condolences to the deceased. My sympathies to their families. Let there be fandom, but it is not greater than life. I urge everyone to please stay safe,” he said.
Talking to reporters, Shivakumar said, “I have spoken to the Police Commissioner and everyone. I will also go to the hospital later. I do not want to disturb the doctors who are taking care of the patients. The exact number cannot be told now. We appeal to the people to remain calm. We shortened the program. The program ended within 10 minutes. We are trying to make everything normal…Lakhs of people came.”
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