Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday sharply criticised the Karnataka government over the tragic stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebrations, calling it a “government-manufactured” incident. The stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives and left 33 injured.
Addressing the media, Patra alleged a breakdown in coordination between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, claiming that political differences led to the mishandling of the event. “This happened because of the issues between the CM and the DCM. The DCM said the stadium’s capacity is 35,000, but three lakh people turned up for the march. Why was it allowed without police permission? Who decided to proceed despite the risks?” he questioned.
Patra further criticised the continued celebration while the tragedy unfolded. “The worst part is, the felicitations continued while people were dying,” he said, accusing the Chief Minister of trivialising the incident. “Was it just an accident or a manufactured stampede? I say it was a government-manufactured stampede. The Chief Minister went on to say that such stampedes are normal. He is trying to normalise the loss of 11 innocent lives.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy also blamed the Congress-led state government. “This is due to the complete failure of the Karnataka Government. Everyone knew there would be a massive crowd after RCB’s win, but no proper security or traffic arrangements were made,” Reddy told ANI.
In contrast, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar defended the police’s response, stating that they had successfully averted further chaos. “I should compliment my police officers. They guided us not to have a procession from the airport. That’s why I rushed there myself to ensure nothing went wrong,” he said.
The tragedy unfolded on Wednesday as thousands gathered to celebrate RCB’s historic IPL win. CM Siddaramaiah announced ₹10 lakh compensation for the families of the deceased and assured free treatment for the injured.
