Did the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka plan the celebration of the RCB’s win in the IPL 2025 without adequate preparation and against the advice of the senior police officers?
Following the stampede that claimed 11 lives, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during a press meet, claimed that RCB fans turned up in lakhs both outside the Vidhana Soudha and the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the tragedy.
BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra slammed the state government for “poor planning” and inadequate police deployment.
“Senior police officers had warned against having a public celebration at the Vidhana Soudha. But the chief minister forced the police force to make arrangements as the state government was keen on publicity rather than safety of the people,” alleged Vijayendra.
LOP in Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy alleged that the police were fatigued as the people had been celebrating the RCB victory all through the night on Wednesday. “On Thursday, the government failed to anticipate such a huge crowd. The police could not manage such a huge crowd.”
Union minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumarasamy asked what would the state have lost if they had postponed the celebrations?
“Even after the tragedy, the Congress ministers went ahead with the celebrations both at Vidhana Soudha and at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In fact, the deputy CM was seen kissing the RCB trophy at the stadium even after 11 RCB fans had died in the stampede,” said Kumaraswamy.
Deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said that the celebrations had been cut short owing to the tragedy. “The BJP is playing politics even over deaths. The RCB team had requested us for a victory parade in an open vehicle from the HAL airport to the stadium. But the police officers advised against it citing security issues and law and order problems. So, we denied permission for the victory parade. The BJP which had earlier criticised the home minister for denying permission for the victory parade is now blaming us for the stampede,” said Shivakumar.
READ | RCB celebration stampede: BJP attacks Siddaramaiah govt, demands judicial probe
Further, Shivakumar claimed that he had gone to the airport to personally receive the RCB team to avoid any untoward incident. “As the crowds started swelling around Vidhana Soudha by afternoon, I ordered the shutting down of the Cubbon Park gate. We also shut down the metro stations (at MG Road, Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha) in the central business district for two hours to prevent a stampede. It is an unfortunate incident. We never anticipated that people would come in such large numbers along with their small children,” said Shivakumar.
According to police sources, the lack of communication by the organisers—who initially announced a victory parade and later cancelled it—and the lack of ticketing to restrict numbers inside the stadium led to a sea of RCB fans venturing out to try their luck. As free passes were distributed, the crowds kept piling on and the police had to rope in forces from other police stations.
While the stadium capacity was 35,000, more than three lakh fans had turned up within four hours by evening. The stadium was also jam packed and once the crowds realised that the victory parade had been cancelled, they started racing towards the stadium to catch a glimpse of their heroes. The ones stranded outside the stadium grew restless and started climbing the stadium compound wall.
Eye witnesses said that the stadium authorities refused to open the bug gates forcing the people to squeeze into the smaller gates. The pathetic state of the footpaths also added to the chaos. Broken barricades and heaps of footwear outside the stadium gates are a sad reminder of what transpired and left 11 fans dead and more than 33 people grievously injured.
The absence of ambulances at the venue led to higher casualties and has exposed the government apathy as there was no sign of any preparedness to host the event in a charged atmosphere.