‘Bengaluru stampede avoidable; who will take responsibility for mismanagement?’ BJP’s Vijayendra

BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Thursday strongly criticised the state government over the stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium that resulted in multiple casualties, calling the incident avoidable and holding the government accountable for mismanagement.

Vijayendra questioned the state’s decision to organise the event with haste, saying, “Who will take responsibility for the stampede? The tragedy could have been avoided if the state government had managed things properly. In the final match held in Ahmedabad, 1.5 lakh people gathered, and no such tragedy occurred there. Why did the state government organise the event with such haste? Why was permission given to hold the event yesterday without proper preparation? What was the necessity of celebrating in front of the Vidhana Soudha? Whether the Deputy Chief Minister or the Chief Minister organised it must be clarified.”

He further pointed out that the stampede had already occurred near the stadium even before the players had left the Taj West End Hotel.

#WATCH | Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra arrived at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital to meet people who were injured in the stampede in Bengaluru.

( Video source – BY Vijayendra office) pic.twitter.com/VFr8VgfUtM

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2025

“At such a time, why did the government decide to go ahead with celebrations at the Vidhana Soudha? Even when deaths and injuries were being reported, why did they continue with the celebrations? The state’s Deputy Chief Minister went to the event at Chinnaswamy Stadium. At the time of the incident, ambulances were not arranged,” Vijayendra said.

He criticised the state government for ordering a magistrate’s investigation rather than a judicial inquiry and accused the Chief Minister and ministers of being overly obsessed with publicity.

The BJP leader also condemned the compensation announced by the government, calling it inadequate. “They have announced only Rs 10 lakh as compensation. When someone dies due to an elephant attack in Kerala, Rs 25 lakh is given. Then, for the people of our state who lost their lives, Rs 50 lakh compensation must be given. The RCB owners must also provide compensation,” he asserted.

Vijayendra alleged that no precautionary measures were taken to organise the event and demanded accountability. “The situation has come to a point where the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Ministers, and the Home Minister must resign,” he added.

Earlier today, Home Minister G Parameshwara inspected the stampede site at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The stampede had killed 11 people and injured several. The Home Minister said that the state government had not asked the Royal Challengers Bangalore or the Karnataka Cricket Association to organise the victory celebrations at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Speaking to the media, Parameshwara said, “We did not request RCB or the KCA, they organised it (the victory celebration). They are the ones who brought the team to Bengaluru. The government also felt it should facilitate this, as it was the Bengaluru team. I feel very sorry that this incident happened.”

Expressing deep sorrow over the incident, CM Siddaramaiah said, “Eleven people died and 33 were injured in the stampede. This tragedy should not have happened. The government expresses deep sorrow over this incident”. The CM further asserted that he has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter.

“I don’t want to defend this incident. Our government will not do politics on this. I have ordered a magisterial inquiry and given 15 days. People even broke the gates of the stadium. There was a stampede. No one expected such a huge crowd. The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 2-3 lakh people came,” CM Siddaramaiah said.

The incident occurred near the iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where thousands of fans gathered to see RCB players after the franchise won the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. (ANI)