BJP asks Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar to resign over IPL stampede deaths

Eleven lives were lost in the stampede during the RCB’s IPL victory celebration outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 due to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s bid to boost their sulking image and popularity by holding two separate events against the police advice, that eventually led to a huge turnout of RCB fans – alleged state BJP president BY Vijayendra, who, along with LOPs R Ashok, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and other BJP leaders led a protest demanding the resignation of the CM and deputy CM at Freedom park in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

“They held two events – one at the Vidhana Soudha attended by the CM and another at the stadium, attended by the deputy CM. In their mad competition for optics, 11 lives were lost. This is a shameless government and the CM and deputy CM have lost their popularity and should immediately step down owning moral responsibility,” demanded Vijayendra, who was detained by the police along with other BJP leaders, after giving a call to the protesters to lay siege to the chief minister’s residence.

“The curse of these 11 young people who died in the stampede is upon this government. The CM and deputy CM pretended and celebrated as if they had won the IPL,” said Ashok, adding that even the judiciary had no faith in the government and the high court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.

Ashok also demanded a three-day special session of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly to discuss the tragedy. “If the government is innocent, it should identify who is at fault. But all the Congress MLAs are now dreaming of becoming the CM as the government will not survive past October,” warned Ashok, hinting at the ongoing power tussle and rumours of CM’s replacement in November.

Narayanaswamy said, “The government had given an open invitation to people to attend the event. But after the tragedy struck, police officers were made the scapegoats and suspended. Why did the government not suspend the Intellgence chief?”

Former minister Gopalaiah alleged criminal negligence on the part of the government and claimed that the Vidhana Soudha event had been organised for Congress “publicity” despite warnings from the police department.

BJP state vice president Byrati Basavaraj said the tragedy occurred due to “poor planning” and “administrative apathy”, MLA V. Sunil Kumar accused the Congress of attempting to deflect attention from the stampede by announcing a caste census. “This is a diversion. They are avoiding accountability by triggering another political debate,” he said.

The chief minister countered the criticism by accusing the BJP of politicising a tragedy for electoral gains.

“If BJP leaders truly value moral responsibility, let them first release a list of their own resignations over deaths during their rule,” he said in a press statement, also drawing parallels with past tragedies under BJP rule, referring to the Gujarat riots of 2002, the Morbi bridge collapse, the ongoing Manipur violence, and the deaths at the Maha Kumbh Mela. “Did anyone resign then? How dare they ask us to?” he said, accusing BJP of “behaving like vultures, swooping down on death and misfortune for political mileage.”

Siddaramaiah reiterated the steps taken by his government and said, “As a responsible government, we have taken accountability for the incident. We have suspended senior police officers, including the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, and transferred the Chief of the State Intelligence Department. My political secretary has also been relieved of his duties. Additionally, we have constituted a one-member commission led by retired Justice John Michael Cunha to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.”

India