Bengaluru: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, responding to allegations by Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and the BJP that police officials have been made scapegoats in the stampede tragedy near Chinnaswamy Stadium during a felicitation programme for the RCB, in which 11 persons were killed, accused the opposition parties of politicising the issue.
Speaking to reporters, the CM said: “I will not politicise this case.”
“Action has been taken against those who, on the surface, failed to discharge their responsibilities,” Siddaramaiah maintained.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, lashing out at Kumaraswamy for his comments on the stampede, said that he would reveal in the Assembly session the number of families that have shed tears due to the JD-S leader.
“Let’s discuss in the session as to how many families have shed tears because of Kumaraswamy and how many families’ tears he has wiped,” he retorted while speaking to reporters at Nehru Planetarium here.
Asked about the opposition’s charge that Shivakumar’s greed for image building has resulted in the stampede tragedy, he said: “I don’t need any additional branding, I have enough reputation given by the people. RCB fans wanted to celebrate the victory of their favourite team. Let’s talk about how the JD-S criticised us for not allowing the victory parade and how they took a U-turn after the stampede. They are doing politics over dead bodies, we will not stoop to his level. We are sincere in our politics.”
“My eyes welled up as I was emotional, but they are criticising that as well. Let them do it. How can they point fingers at me? How can I be responsible for this tragedy?” he asked.
Asked about the Opposition’s demand for his resignation, taking responsibility for the stampede, he quipped: “They are Opposition parties, let them ask. We will try and fulfil their desires.”
Talking about criticism on participating in the victory celebration ceremony at the stadium, he said: “The Karnataka State Cricket Association organised the event. I am the Minister for Bengaluru Development. Some officials informed me that the programme needed to be cut short to 10 minutes as the situation was getting out of control, hence, I went to the stadium. What is wrong with that? I went to the HAL airport to welcome the players and explain to them about the stance of the city police not to hold a victory parade. Is there something wrong with that?”
Asked about continuing with the victory celebration at Vidhana Soudha even after many deaths occurred due to the stampede, he clarified that they did not have any information about the tragedy at the time.
To a question on the opposition criticism of suspending police officials instead of his resigning, he said: “The CM has taken this decision in the interest of the people. We will discuss who has resigned when some other time. The decision was taken after a Cabinet meeting. Some people have the habit of blabbering something.”
Asked why Kumaraswamy was targeting him, Shivakumar said: “He loves me very much. The feeling is mutual. That is why he is asking for the resignation… we will entertain his request.”
Karnataka BJP and JD(S) on Friday claimed that the image war between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM Shivakumar resulted in the stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Squarely blaming them for the incident, both parties have demanded their resignations.
(IANS)
