Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today broke down while recalling what the mother of a man who died in the stampede during RCB’s IPL victory celebration on Wednesday told him.
“One mother requested me to give the body of her son without doing a postmortem. But it was a legal process,” Mr Shivakumar told reporters, tears in his eyes.
He said it does not matter who gave permission to hold the victory event in Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium as accountability will anyway be fixed and action will follow after a thorough investigation.
“What we are against is the BJP’s political agenda over the tragedy. We do not want to do politics,” Mr Shivakumar said.
Soon after the incident on Wednesday, Mr Shivakumar offered an apology, and pointed out that the stadium which had a capacity to seat 35,000 could not take the massive crowds that finally turned up.
The size of the crowds, however, was much larger than what was assumed yesterday, according to Karnataka Home Minister G Parmeshwara.
“Approximately eight lakh people showed up,” the state home minister said this afternoon.
The Karnataka government announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who were killed in the stampede.
Chief Minister Siddaramiah in a press conference on Wednesday evening also announced a magisterial investigation 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’ time. People even broke the gates of the stadium. There was a stampede. No one expected such a huge crowd,” the chief minister said.
The BJP has criticised the Karnataka government for not anticipating the rush, considering many leaders had been talking about a possible RCB victory this time and celebratory mood was high before the event, which could have indicated a huge crowd turnout.
Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje today demanded immediate resignation of Mr Shivakumar and called to form a probe committee led by a high court judge to probe the stampede.
She alleged the ruling Congress in the state acted in haste without any planning or thought to facilitate the event.
“Why did those in power, those in the Vidhana Soudha, decide to let a private company organise such a celebration? Why was it celebrated at all? This was not a government programme – then why was it celebrated,” Ms Karandlaje said.
