Will Bengaluru stampede cost Siddaramaiah his chair? Karnataka CM, Shivakumar in Delhi

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is in Delhi on Tuesday to meet the Congress high command. The visit comes in the backdrop of recent tragic stampede in Bengaluru in which 11 persons died. 

According to the chief minister's office, Siddaramaiah will reach Delhi today and brief the party leadership about recent developments in the state. On Monday, Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar had visited the national capital.  

Siddaramaiah's visit to Delhi comes after he completely distanced himself from the tragedy and claimed he had no role in it. Recently, the Karnataka chief minister said he did not attend the event at Chinnaswamy Stadium and was part of the felicitation event only at Vidhan Soudha. Siddaramaiah also claimed he was not invited to the event at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

As many as 11 persons died and 33 persons suffered injuries in a stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL victory celebrations on June 4. Poor arrangements and, publicity craze of chief minister and deputy CM led to the tragedy, opposition blamed.

The Karnataka chief minister also claimed he was invited to attend the event at Vidhan Soudha by chief secretary and Siddaramaiah said, he was told police had granted necessary security clearances for the event. Siddaramaiah also claimed he came to know about the stampede deaths only two hours after the incident. 

Siddaramaiah, on Sunday, denied reports that the Congress high command had sought information from him regarding the stampede incident. Shivakumar, who was in Delhi on Monday, said he would not be meeting the party leadership as he has to attend an urgent meeting in Bengaluru, PTI reported.