In a grotesque display of political opportunism, the Congress-led Karnataka government turned what should have been a joyous occasion into a public tragedy. The state-sponsored “felicitation” ceremony for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) — celebrating their maiden IPL title win after 18 long years — quickly descended into a stampede that claimed 11 lives and left over 37 injured. Yet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in a hastily convened press conference, conveniently blamed the Karnataka State Cricket Association for the fiasco. If that were true, then why were the CM and his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, present at the event, smiling for cameras and soaking in the spotlight? If they had no hidden political motive, what explained their need to personally preside over a supposedly private celebration? Let’s be honest — the Chinnaswamy Stadium has a capacity of just 35,000. Yet lakhs of fans poured in, many from far-flung corners of the city. Is the government now going to blame the fans for showing up in overwhelming numbers? This was not just poor planning; it was a deadly mix of political greed, administrative apathy, and moral bankruptcy. To be clear, the RCB team deserves every bit of applause. They played their hearts out. But that applause should never have drowned out the screams of fans being crushed to death, victims of a government’s reckless PR stunt.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium, in the heart of Bengaluru, was thrown open at short notice for a grand victory celebration — orchestrated not by the BCCI, but by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his publicity-obsessed deputy. There were no crowd control protocols, no safety advisories, and no logistical planning. Just a blind rush for spectacle. The result? Chaos, stampedes, and body bags. And yet, as ambulances wailed and desperate families searched for loved ones, the show went on. A grinning Siddaramaiah posed with the trophy. Shivakumar ensured the cameras captured his handshake with Virat Kohli. Kohli himself — shockingly unbothered — delivered a cheery speech. Even Anushka Sharma, his wife, was seen blowing kisses to a crowd reeling from horror outside. What exactly were they celebrating? Cricketing glory — or Karnataka’s disgrace? The most appalling part: this wasn’t a BCCI event. IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal publicly stated he had no clue about this felicitation plan. So, who invited the team to Bengaluru? Who footed the bill? Why was the team diverted from their home states to a political circus? What gave the Congress government the moral right to hijack a private franchise’s win for political gain — a franchise partly owned by a fugitive businessman lounging in the UK?
This wasn’t about honouring sport. It was about grabbing a fleeting moment of populist glamour by a government rapidly losing public trust, from caste survey confusion and textbook delays to rising unemployment and corruption. With a bruising Lok Sabha verdict behind them, the Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar regime is desperate for distraction. But converting a cricketing win into a propaganda parade — at the cost of 11 human lives — isn’t just unethical. It’s criminal. The state home department should have anticipated this madness. When you invite thousands of emotionally charged fans into a venue with limited capacity and no crowd management plan, you’re not organizing a celebration — you’re engineering a stampede. And no amount of PR spin or belated condolences can wash that blood away. The people of Karnataka must now ask: is this the leadership they voted for? One that lets citizens die for a photo-op? One that values political mileage more than human lives? There must be accountability. An independent judicial probe is imperative. Compensation must be both financial and moral. And above all, the Congress leadership in Karnataka must offer an unconditional apology — not just to the families of the dead, but to every citizen who watched their government turn a moment of victory into a spectacle of shame. Because this wasn’t merely a failure of governance. It was a failure of humanity.