Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday turned emotional over the loss of lives due to the stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium and said that Bengaluru has lost its image due to the incident that claimed 11 lives.
Reacting to allegations by the opposition that police had not permitted celebrations, he said, ” I don’t want to react to any of these BJP guys. I am only answerable to the people of Karnataka and the people of the country. All BJP persons are nonsense… They are also the masterminds of these dirty things.”
He also accused the opposition BJP and JD(S) are playing politics on dead bodies and said that the state government has taken full responsibility for the incident.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “We are deeply hurt. The victims are our own family. The image of Karnataka, the image of Bengaluru…Yes, we take it (responsibility). We are not blaming others, though it has happened very unexpectedly. No one expected such a crowd. After 18 years (of waiting for RCB’s victory), I don’t know what was boiling in the youngsters, and they all came. That is debatable…things have happened”.
“Now let us be part of the grief. We want to respect the deceased. My CM is also shocked, my home minister is also shocked, and the entire state is shocked. The state is mourning over this,” he said.
As he spoke, he turned emotional, saying those who died in the incident are all family members, and said the government never expected such a big gathering.
When pointed out that he turned emotional, he said, “See, of course it is all about family members…we never expected such a big gathering. The image of Karnataka, the image of Bengaluru has lost…families have lost.”
Responding to a request made by a woman to not conduct a post-mortem of her son’s body, he said, “The mother of a child who died in the stampede said Please don’t do the post-mortem, give the body to me. How can we do it? We have to take up a legal…(course). Because tomorrow something may happen, and questions would be raised if it were done properly? Whether it was an accident, whether someone stamped him or stabbed him, that report has to come from the health authorities. Only if a post-mortem is done will we know it,” he added.
Recounting his visit to the stadium after the incident, he said, “I just checked the gates… how many gates were there, a lot of issues were there…I think the magistrates will look into it. We are very serious in this.”
He said that his party at the national level is very much concerned about this issue, too. We will try to find a solution for this,” he said.
