BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday expressed regret over the death of 11 people in the stampede during RCB’s victory celebrations in the city in June.
Replying to queries of Opposition members in the Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah said, “This incident should not have happened. I have been a legislator for 42 years. Such an incident never happened, where lives were lost. I am still feeling sad and disturbed.”
However, he reiterated that there was no mistake on the part of his government. “I went to the hospital with Home Minister G Parameshwara. I was deeply disturbed after seeing the bodies there. I ordered a magisterial inquiry and later a probe by a one-man commission headed by Justice Michael D’Cunha, a retired HC judge.
Slamming BJP MLA Suresh Kumar for blaming the government for the tragedy, he said, “Stampedes happened in the states ruled by the BJP in the past. Did you blame those BJP governments for the stampedes in which many were killed?”
Siddaramaiah also slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his wife and the Gujarat CM for watching an IPL match in Gujarat during the pandemic.
RCB won the cup for the first time. It has the highest number of fans in the world. People of the state identified themselves with RCB as it is based in Bengaluru. They should have taken permission from the agencies concerned.
Police did not take adequate security measures. Hence, the government suspended a few police officers. Even a political secretary was removed. Criminal cases have been filed against RCB, KSCA and DNA, the CM said.
He said for the event at Vidhana Soudha, he had invited the governor. A large number of RCB fans had gathered and chaos prevailed. All possible actions were taken to avoid the tragedy, he claimed.
It was not right on the part of the Opposition to seek the government’s resignation, blaming it for the tragedy, he said.
Unhappy with his reply, BJP members staged a walkout.