‘State govt never cared about prior preparation, was more interested in publicity’: BJP chief Vijayendra

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra on Wednesday slammed the Congress government in the state for the stampede during the RCB victory celebration at Chinnaswamy Stadium, and said that the incident left over 11 people dead and several others critically injured.

He said the event was poorly planned, lacked police and ambulance support, and accused the government of focusing more on publicity than safety. He demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah order a judicial inquiry into the incident and take full responsibility.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: On the stampede during RCB victory celebrations, Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra says, “The state government should take full responsibility for this tragedy. When the whole country and Karnataka were celebrating RCB’s victory, the state government’s… pic.twitter.com/M7nUBc9vZN

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2025

Vijayendra said, “The state government should take full responsibility for this tragedy. When the whole country and Karnataka were celebrating RCB’s victory, the state government’s haste to hold a victory rally without any prior preparations led to this tragedy. The state government never cared about prior preparations. They were more interested in publicity. This resulted in the death of more than 11 people. Some people are in the ICU. I spoke to some victims, and there was no police inside, no ambulance facility. The CM should order a judicial investigation”.

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಚಿನ್ನಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಂಗಣದಲ್ಲಿನ ಐಪಿಎಲ್ ಸಂಭ್ರಮಾಚರಣೆಯ ವೇಳೆ ಕಾಲ್ತುಳಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಲುಕಿ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆ ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಗಾಯಾಳುಗಳ ಕ್ಷೇಮ ವಿಚಾರಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಆರ್.ಸಿ.ಬಿ ವಿಜಯೋತ್ಸವದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮೀರಿ ಜನಪ್ರವಾಹ ಹರಿದು ಬಂದ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಉಂಟಾಗಿರುವ ದುರಂತದಲ್ಲಿ 11 ಮಂದಿಗೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು… pic.twitter.com/69Q42Izuxv

— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) June 4, 2025

The state BJP chief also visited Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital to meet people who were injured in the stampede in Bengaluru.

Karnataka Legislative Council Leader of Opposition and BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy also blamed the state government for the stampede, calling it a clear case of security failure.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: On the stampede during RCB victory celebrations, Karnataka Legislative Council LoP & BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy says, “This tragedy happened because of the government. They had no idea about how many people would come, what precautions would have to be… pic.twitter.com/YhzBiWOMjo

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2025

He said the government failed to anticipate the crowd size and did not take necessary precautions, leading to the tragedy. “This tragedy happened because of the government. They had no idea about how many people would come, what precautions would have to be taken. This is a security failure”, he said.

The tragic event has now cast a shadow over RCB’s much-celebrated IPL win, where they defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS), ending RCB’s long wait for a maiden title as they won the match by six runs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (ANI)