On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unleashed a scathing attack on the Karnataka government in the wake of the fatal stampede near Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium while the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) victory parade was being held, in which 11 people were killed and over 50 others injured.
The BJP squarely blamed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar for the tragedy and urged them to resign forthwith.
BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra at a press conference had called the incident "serious and sorrowful."
"Yesterday, in Bengaluru, Karnataka, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, 11 individuals were killed during a stampede. This is not merely a tragic incident for Karnataka but for the nation as well. The Prime Minister and others have conveyed their sympathies. The BJP also condoles the death of these 11 innocent souls in the Karnataka stampede. We request God to bestow strength and patience upon the families of the deceased and peace upon the departed souls," Patra said.
He wondered whether the tragedy was just an accident or a scripted stampede. "Was it an accident or a staged stampede? I think it was a government-staged stampede. See the gall of the Chief Minister -- Siddaramaiah says stampedes take place everywhere. This after 11 lives were lost in vain. Kannadigas won't forgive him or the Deputy CM. Their intra-party power struggle claimed 11 lives," he said.
Patra also used X on Thursday, tweeting, "Just like Allu Arjun was arrested earlier for being responsible for the stampede, will Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar be arrested today?"
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Blaming the rushed planning of the victory march, he said, "Just because D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah wanted to do a photo-op, they rushed for organising a grand event within 12 hours. The result was 11 deaths and over 50 seriously injured."
Questioning legality of the event, Patra asked, "Who sanctioned this event? Who sanctioned it on paper? We want to see the risk assessment and the crowd management plan. If the capacity of the stadium is 35,000, how did 3,00,000 people converge? And why were they admitted?"
He also added, "If police sanction was not taken, then how was the event conducted?"
Patra criticized that the celebrations went on even while the stampede was occurring.
"The worst was that the felicitation went on even while people were dying. Celebrations after deaths -- this is possibly the first time India witnessed something as shameful. Shame on Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar. They were grinning on the stage while people died," he stated.
Comparing this, Patra remembered the previous arrest of actor Allu Arjun in a similar case of stampede and wanted to know why the Karnataka leaders were not being similarly punished.
"If Allu Arjun was arrested in this kind of case, will D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah be arrested now?" he wondered.
He also mentioned one of the trending videos where Deputy CM Shivakumar seemed to push someone out of the way in order to avoid obstruction on camera.
"The Deputy CM's worry was not crowd control, but earning PR points," Patra accused.
On the question of responsibility, he said, "I've heard news that additional 25,000 tickets were sold over capacity. This is a direct failure of the state government. CM and Dy CM should resign for the death of 11 innocent people."
Ending his speech, Patra attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking him why he was not speaking out on the tragedy.
"Where is Rahul Gandhi today? The one who ridicules the Indian government, ridicules Narendra Modi, ridicules the army every day in the name of democratic right -- why is he keeping mum on this tragedy?" he asked.
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