Police detain BJP workers following condolence meeting for Bengaluru stampede victims

BENGALURU : The Bharatiya Janata Party workers were detained by the police in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The BJP organised a condolence meeting for the victims of the Bengaluru stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

BJP demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar.

Speaking to the reporters, BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy asked the state government what they had to do with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) winning Indian Premier League (IPL). He stated that the victory celebrations should never have happened near the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

#WATCH | Bengaluru | Karnataka BJP holds a condolence meeting for the deaths caused by stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium, at the Freedom Park, demanding the resignation of CM Siddaramaiah and Dy CM DK Shivakumar pic.twitter.com/Jhg9STuaww

— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2025

Narayanswamy mentioned that the government called the people to celebrate RCB’s win, and for the sake of credit, “messed up” with the lives of 11 people.

“RCB won the (IPL) match and people were enjoying it. But what did the government have to do with it?…They called people to celebrate. Vidhana Soudha is not a playground, it should have been near the Chinnaswamy stadium. To take credit, this government messed up and 11 people died, yet the government did not accept its mistake”, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said.

The BJP MLC said that his party wants to teach a lesson to the state government and the CM and Deputy CM should, and if they don’t the protests will continue. Narayanswamy highlighted that being the opposition of the state, it is their right to ask questions from the government.

#WATCH | Bengaluru | Karnataka Legislative Council LoP & BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy says, “RCB won the (IPL) match and people were enjoying it. But what did the government have to do with it?…They called people to celebrate. Vidhana Soudha is not a playground, it should… https://t.co/s4quPePPdI pic.twitter.com/bJLxe3Z1IE

— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2025

“We want to teach them a lesson. The CM and Deputy CM should resign and if they don’t, the protests will continue…Congress, not BJP, is doing politics of dead bodies…Being in the opposition, it is our right to ask questions”, he added.

On Sunday, Karnataka Leader of Opposition (LoP) R Ashok has urged the state government to convene an emergency session of the legislature to discuss the stampede tragedy at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

In a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ashok highlighted that the incident has raised serious questions about public safety, crowd control, and the organisation of sports and other events.

Eleven people died and more than 30 were injured in a stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy stadium as a huge crowd of nearly 3 lakh people had gathered to witness the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru for winning the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Following the incident, the Karnataka government on June 5 suspended top police officials at the Cubbon Park Police Station and formed a one-man commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe the incident. (ANI)