Bengaluru: BJP’s Vijayendra Yediyurappa Blames CM Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar for Chinnaswamy Stadium Stampede

BJP Karnataka chief Vijayendra Yediyurappa blamed CM Siddaramaiah and Dy CM DK Shivakumar for the June 4 Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede that killed 11. He said the state govt must take responsibility for the tragedy, not just police officials.

Bengaluru: BJP Karnataka State President Vijayendra Yediyurappa said that Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Dy CM DK Shivakumar are the ones to take the responsibility for the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 during the Royal Challenger Bengaluru team's Indian Premier League (IPL) victory celebrations.

June 4 Tragedy: 11 Dead, Several Injured At Chinnaswamy Stadium

On June 4, 11 people died and several were injured in a stampede outside Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy stadium as a massive crowd of nearly 3 lakh people had gathered to witness the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, celebrating their maiden IPL trophy win.

A two-person bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) observed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to be "responsible" for the gathering of "about three to five lakhs people" outside their home venue of M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

However, Yediyurappa, on Thursday, alleged that the state government made the decision to organise the felicitation program and said, 

"Today the govt has taken action against the police officers... The issue is with the incident where the 11 innocent people died; the decision was taken by the state government, not by the police department. It was the decision of CM Siddaramaiah to organise the felicitation program outside the Vidhana Soudha. The police department was requesting more time to organise the celebration rally. It is CM Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar who have to take the responsibility," Yediyurappa told the media. 

CAT Pulls Up RCB For Unauthorised Victory Parade Plans

Last month, the CAT pulled up RCB for "unilaterally" putting up information on celebrations without "obtaining the permission" or without the "consent" of the police."

The CAT order stated that neither the franchise nor its event management firm, S DNA Entertainment Network Private Limited, sought any permissions to conduct the title celebration parade at the stadium.

The order came out in defence of cops, saying that they are "human beings", "neither God (Bhagwan) nor Magician and did not have the magical powers like "Alladin ka Chirag" capable of fulfilling a wish only by rubbing a finger."