Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah Friday told the legislative assembly that he remains deeply disturbed over the stampede that claimed 11 lives outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory celebration on June 4 and that he had regretted the loss of lives. Replying to a debate on the tragedy, Siddaramaiah said similar tragedies previously occurred both in India and across the world, and that no one in the country has ever taken responsibility or resigned in such cases. “BJP said that if I have a heart and humanity, I should apologise for the tragedy,” Siddaramaiah said. “Though it can never take away the sorrow and pain of bereaved parents and family members, I expressed my deep regrets on the day of the incident. In 42 years as a legislator since 1983, I have never seen 11 deaths in a stampede tragedy. I am sad about the untimely deaths of youngsters, all aged between 11 and 19 years, and I am still disturbed over the incident.” Opposition BJP had wanted the CM to apologise for the “govt’s failure to prevent the stampede” and staged a walkout in protest when Siddaramaiah limited his response to expressing regret. Siddaramaiah hit back at the opposition pointing out that over 20 stampede incidents occurred in BJP-ruled states over the past decade. He cited the Nina Devi temple stampede in Himachal Pradesh in 2008 that claimed 108 lives during Prem Kumar Dhumal’s tenure, as well as stampedes at Prayagraj and New Delhi railway station during the Maha Kumbh Mela. He also ridiculed senior BJP member Suresh Kumar for calling his govt an “abettor” in the deaths, recalling the Chamarajanagar Covid-19 tragedy where 36 people died due to unavailability of oxygen at the district hospital on May 4, 2021. “Suresh Kumar (minister in charge of the district at the time) tried to mislead the public by saying only two people died when 36people had died. Did he call himself an abettor? Or did he call then CM Basavaraj Bommai and health minister K Sudhakar abettors? One should not politicise such tragedies,” Siddaramaiah said. He said the Chinnaswamy stadium tragedy was caused by mass hysteria and celebrations reflected the people of Karnataka’s pride in the team, although only three Karnataka players — Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and Manoj Bhandage — were part of the RCB squad. “People of Karnataka saw RCB as a team as a representative of the state and spent the whole intervening night of June 3 celebrating its victory,” Siddaramaiah said. “The team won its first trophy after an 18-year wait. There was mass hysteria. Sometimes the govt has to bow to the aspirations of people. That is the thumbprint of democracy.” Siddaramaiah admitted he had attended the celebrations on the Grand Steps of Vidhana Soudha and later went to Hotel Janardhan to eat dosa at his grandson’s insistence when the tragedy took place. “I did not know about it until Ponnanna (his legal adviser) told me at 5.30pm,” Siddaramaiah said. “I immediately called city police commissioner B Dayananda and they said two had died. Actually, 11 were already dead.”
