The BJP has strongly criticised the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government after it released a report blaming Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and cricketer Virat Kohli for the tragic stampede that took place on June 4. The stampede occurred during the RCB’s IPL victory parade in Bengaluru and left 11 people dead and nearly 50 injured.

The victory parade was organised to celebrate RCB’s IPL win after 18 years. A massive crowd gathered near the Chinnaswamy Stadium as the team moved from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium.

The government’s report, which was made public after a high court order, blamed RCB for putting out social media posts inviting fans to join the celebration without informing the police. The report mentioned that a video clip of Virat Kohli inviting people to celebrate also helped draw large crowds.

According to the report, these posts "contributed to drawing a massive crowd to the Chinnaswamy Stadium." It also said that there was confusion over entry passes, which added to the chaos and resulted in a stampede.

The government also explained why the parade wasn’t stopped after the tragedy. The report said, “...a measured response was taken by curtailing the duration of the function. Instead of complete termination, a measured approach was adopted by allowing the event to proceed with significantly curtailed duration and enhanced monitoring.”

BJP blames Congress govt for mismanagement

The BJP has now blamed the state government for the tragedy. Aravind Bellad, BJP MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said the government wanted credit for the parade earlier but is now blaming the players.

He said, “It’s not only RCB that invited people; a huge number of people came on the invitation of the Congress, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and government officials. The DPAR secretary came on TV and invited people. The government is solely responsible for this.”

Mr. Bellad further questioned the suspension of police officers if the RCB was being blamed. “If the report says RCB is solely responsible, why did the government suspend police officers? The Chief Minister should apologise to the former police commissioner.”

He also added, “If there was an intimation by RCB that they will hold the event, then the government should have refused permission. They had all the right to say this event cannot be held. Just to take credit for the victory, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister invited people. To now put the blame on a great player like Virat Kohli or RCB is wrong.”

The high court had earlier ordered the government to release the report, rejecting the request to keep it confidential. The report also revealed that over 3 lakh people had gathered for the event, while the stadium’s capacity was only around 35,000.

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