NEW DELHI: In an attempt to distance his government from the Bengaluru stampede, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reiterated that the RCB team felicitation event on June 4 was not organised by the state government. “On June 4, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and RCB organised a felicitation programme for players. I was invited at 11.29am that day and I accepted it. The chief secretary also called me. I had said ‘go ahead.’ The governor also attended the event. There are media reports that the governor had come to the event on his own. It is not correct,” Siddaramaiah said.Also read: Siddaramaiah distances government from Bengaluru stampede, blames top cop
Talking to reporters, he said, “Political secretary to the CM K Govindraj (who has now been removed from the post) rang up Raj Bhavan and handed over the call to me stating that the governor was also coming. I spoke to the governor and told him that I’m going to the felicitation event. You too please come. I called him.”“So, the governor too attended the felicitation event, which ended in 20 minutes as there was rain and both of us left thereafter. This is what happened. Newspapers and TV channels have reported that no one had invited the governor and he had come on his own, so I’m giving this clarification,” he added.When asked whether an official invitation had been sent to the governor before the call, Siddaramaiah said, “I don’t know who invited or not. I called him as I was attending the event.”Earlier in the day, the Karnataka high court reserved the order on the petition filed by RCB’s marketing head Nikhil Sosale, seeking interim relief on the ground that his arrest in alleged connection with the Bengaluru stampede was illegal.The high court reserved the order for June 12.The stampede that occurred during celebrations outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Indian Premier League (IPL) victory celebrations claimed 11 lives.Following the Bengaluru stampede, the Karnataka Government on June 5 suspended top police officials at the Cubbon Park Police Station and formed a one-man commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe the incident.When asked about increasing compensation for the stampede victims, Siddaramaiah said that Rs 25 lakh has been given to the families of each person who died. “We will discuss it in the cabinet,” he added.Replying to a question about the opposition BJP’s protest demanding his resignation over the stampede, he said the opposition is doing politics.“They will do politics. The BJP lies and misleads the people and then demands resignation. During Kumbh Mela 40-50 people were killed due to stampede. Did they demand resignation then? A bridge collapsed on the inauguration day, people were killed. Did they demand the PM’s resignation? How many were killed in the Godhra incident. Who was the CM then in Gujarat? During Covid without oxygen supply people died. Did Basavaraj Bommai (former Karnataka CM from BJP) resign then?” he said.