Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has sharply criticised the Congress-led Karnataka government following the tragic stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebration. The incident, which unfolded amid a massive crowd gathering, has sparked a political storm over poor planning and lack of crowd control.
Surya directly blamed the state administration, pointing fingers at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for issuing an open call to fans without ensuring basic safety arrangements. “The stampede was completely avoidable. It was state-orchestrated,” he said while speaking to ANI. “Yesterday, the CM put out a tweet giving an open invitation to everyone, knowing fully well the frenzy of fans. He gave this invitation without making proper arrangements for security, safety, and crowd control.”
He also accused both the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of treating the public celebration as a private political event. “The government should take full responsibility for the tragedy and demanded financial compensation for the victims' families. Lives that have been lost cannot be brought back,” Surya said. “The state government must own up and cover all expenses for the injured and compensate the families who have lost their loved ones.”
Dismissing the magisterial inquiry ordered by the state government as meaningless, Surya questioned its relevance to the victims' families. “Will this 15-day report help these families? Keep this 15-day report yourself in your house. Who cares?” he asked.
Surya also appealed to the RCB management and players to support the victims’ families. “No other team enjoys the kind of loyalty RCB does. Bengalurians treat RCB as family. The cricketers have made hundreds of crores from fans' love over the years. It's now their moral responsibility to support these families.”
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy joined the criticism, laying direct blame on Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. “The person responsible must be immediately sacked from the cabinet,” he said during a press conference in New Delhi. He described Shivakumar’s conduct as marked by “impatience, immaturity, and irresponsibility,” and claimed the state was being run by “arrogant fools.”
In response, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar expressed regret over the incident and acknowledged the unanticipated scale of the crowd. “We never expected such a big crowd. The stadium's capacity is 35,000, but more than 3 lakh people showed up. Gates were broken…We apologise for this incident,” he said. He also countered the criticism by accusing the BJP of politicising the tragedy.
Shivakumar stated that all scheduled government events on Thursday had been postponed, with the exception of the cabinet meeting. He defended the police's actions during the chaos, saying, “I compliment the police officers. They guided us. At Vidhana Soudha, we were very cautious.”
