Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, June 17: Condemning the Karnataka government’s handling of the recent stampede incident at Chinnaswamy Stadium during the RCB victory celebration, the BJP staged a massive protest at Freedom Park today, demanding the resignation of chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, addressing the protest, alleged that the clash of egos between the chief minister and deputy chief minister led to the tragedy that claimed the lives of 11 innocent people. “The deputy chief minister organised a programme near Chinnaswamy Stadium for publicity. The competition between the two leaders caused this disaster,” he said.
Vijayendra further demanded that both leaders take moral responsibility and step down. “This is a shameless government. The deaths of 11 people occurred under the direct patronage of this administration. The CM and DCM have lost public support,” he said.
The protestors planned to march towards the chief minister’s residence, but police intervened and stopped them at Freedom Park. A scuffle broke out during the confrontation, following which police detained several BJP leaders and workers and took them to Upparpet police station in BMTC buses.
The protest saw participation from prominent leaders including opposition leader in the assembly R Ashoka, opposition leader in the legislative council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former deputy CM Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, legislative council chief whip Ravi Kumar, assembly chief whip Doddangowda Patil, MLAs, MLCs, former legislators, office-bearers and party workers.
Chalavadi Narayanaswamy accused the state government of negligence, stating, “They summoned crowds from all directions. The cup belongs to RCB, but the fault lies with the government. They made police officers scapegoats. Why hasn’t the intelligence chief been suspended yet?”
Former minister Gopalaiah added, “Two events were scheduled simultaneously. The police had warned against this, yet the government went ahead, using the event for publicity near Vidhana Soudha. Despite being aware of the fatalities, the programme continued. This is condemnable.”