Bengaluru: Expressing “regret” over the death of 11 people in the June 4 stampede, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday told the Legislative Assembly that the incident had “deeply disturbed” him and said his government has taken all necessary steps to ensure justice for those affected.
Rejecting the opposition’s demand for his resignation and that of senior cabinet colleagues, Siddaramaiah noted that 20 stampedes had taken place in BJP-ruled states in the last 10 years. He blamed “mass hysteria” for the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a large crowd had gathered for the RCB team’s IPL victory celebrations.
Siddaramaiah was replying to a discussion in the Assembly on the incident in which 11 people died and 71 were injured.
Responding to criticism from the BJP, Siddaramaiah admitted he had gone to a hotel with his grandson on the day of the incident.
“The BJP said I went to eat dosa. It is true, I went. I am not denying it. My grandson had come from London and I had brought him for the Vidhana Soudha RCB event. He said, ‘Let’s eat dosa.’ That is why we went to the hotel. At 5.30 pm, I learnt of the incident. This is the truth. You may believe it or not. From the hotel, I called the commissioner. He initially said one person had died. By then, 11 people had died,” he explained.
The Chief Minister said he acted immediately after learning of the incident. “Anyone with humanity will feel pain. I called the Home Minister and asked him to come with me to the hospital. We both went, we saw the dead bodies, and we were deeply hurt. It has disturbed me greatly. I immediately ordered an inquiry,” he said.
Detailing the steps taken, Siddaramaiah added, “On the evening of June 4, I ordered a Deputy Commissioner’s inquiry. On June 5, I ordered a one-man commission inquiry. Justice D’Cunha submitted his report on July 10. On July 11, the Deputy Commissioner submitted his report. In the last ten years, 20 stampedes have occurred.”
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka rejected the Chief Minister’s explanation, calling it “unacceptable”. He said, “11 innocent people lost their lives. Here Siddaramaiah says it’s not our fault, not government’s fault, it’s fault of police. So police are not under this government? Main culprit is Siddaramaiah and others.”
BJP state president BY Vijayendra also targeted the Congress government, accusing Siddaramaiah of shifting responsibility. “In the Chinnaswamy stampede episode, Chief Minister who was supposed to take the whole responsibility has blamed DNA, RCB and police. DK Shivakumar is an accused in this. Siddaramaiah failed to take up the blame. If government was not at fault, why have they taken Chief Minister’s political secretary K Govindraj’s resignation? Government is at fault,” he said.
