‘I don’t do politics, have taken action’: CM defends govt response in Bengaluru stampede case

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for politicising the recent stampede at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives. His remarks came after the BJP accused the Congress-led state government of making the police a “scapegoat” in the incident.

CM Siddaramaiah said the state government has already taken action against officials who were found to be “visibly responsible” and “negligent in their duty”. “They are doing it for politics, I don’t do politics. We have taken action against those who were visibly responsible and found to be negligent in their duty”, the Chief Minister said here.

Meanwhile, Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra accused the state government of only acting when pressure was put on them. “The state government has acted only after coming under pressure… Action has been taken against RCB and the Karnataka Cricket Association. Yesterday, the Chief Minister suddenly suspended senior police officers, including the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, and five others”, Vijayendra said.

11 lives were lost not because of a lapse in policing, but because of a total breakdown in political responsibility.

If we look at the manner in which the events transpired – the police had denied permission in writing to KSCA, RCB, and DNA Entertainment, clearly citing short… pic.twitter.com/mgCFq02WCi

— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) June 6, 2025

Blaming senior state cabinet members, including CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM Shivakumar, and Home minister G Parameshwara for the stampede, he demanded an investigation into their actions. “The real accused is none other than Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Accused no. 2 is Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. Accused no. 3 is Home Minister G Parameshwara. They must truly be subjected to investigation,” the state BJP president said.

Following the death of 11 people in the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, the government suspended multiple IPS officers, including the Bengaluru city police Commissioner, B Dayananda. Senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh took charge as the city police commissioner earlier today.

Apart from Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar H T, Assistant Commissioner of Police Balakrishna and Cubbon Park Police Inspector Girish A K were also suspended with immediate effect.

Notably, the city police filed an FIR against the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), among others, in the Bengaluru stampede incident. In response, KSCA has filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking the quashing of FIRs filed against it.

KSCA board of directors, including president Raghuram Bhat, Secretary A Shankar, Treasurer E S Jairam, appealed for quashing of the FIR. The hearing on the petition will be held today afternoon by a bench of Justice Krishna Kumar. (ANI)