NEW DELHI/BENGALURU : Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, on Wednesday rubbished rumours of buying the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RBC) franchise. “I am not a mad man. I am just the member of Karnataka Cricket Association from my younger days. I don’t have time. Though I had offers to be part of the management ... I don’t have time. My own educational institutions, I have resigned and left it to other members of the family to take care of it. Why I need RCB? I don’t even drink Royal Challenge,” Shivakumar told a news agency in New Delhi.
The Congress government in Karnataka has faced sharp criticism from the opposition BJP and JDS for the stampede on the evening of June 4 in front of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a large number of people had gathered to participate in the RCB team’s IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people were killed in the incident.
Shivakumar’s comments came in the wake of reports suggesting that United Spirits, the Indian arm of UK-based Diageo Plc, was considering selling stakes in the RCB franchise.
Shivakumar, along with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was in the national capital to meet the party’s top brass to discuss various issues, including the June 4 stampede. RCB won its maiden IPL title by defeating Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad on June 3.
