He said that the government did not anticipate such a large crowd and such a tragedy. Shivakumar said he and Chief Minister Siddaramiah were shocked to hear about the incident and were "deeply hurt".
Published Jun 05, 2025 | 3:05 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 05, 2025 | 3:21 PM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Synopsis: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar broke down while speaking to the media regarding the stampede that occurred during the IPL title celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He said the administration has to learn from this and added that he was not sure what went wrong.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar broke down on Thursday, 5 June, while speaking to the media regarding the stampede that occurred during the IPL title celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
He said that the government did not anticipate such a large crowd and such a tragedy. Shivakumar said he and Chief Minister Siddaramiah were shocked to hear about the incident and were “deeply hurt”.
At least 11 people were killed and 47 others were injured during the stampede that occurred outside Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the government has tasked Bengaluru District Collector Jagadeesha G to probe the incident and submit a report within 15 days.
Shivakumar said RCB gave the tickets for free and that the government didn’t have an option. “All of us are feeling the pain. We cannot blame anyone,” the deputy chief minister said.
He said the administration has to learn from this and added that he was not sure what went wrong. “When opposition was ruling too (such things happened). I don’t want to rule like them,” Shivakumar said.
He broke down, saying that he was worried about children. “A 6-year-old kid was injured. No family can digest this.”
Shivakumar said that when the Police Commissioner informed them of the situation, he asked the organisers to finish the event in 10 minutes.
“I had no plan to go to KCA. Till I reached the stadium, I didn’t know this happened,” he said and added that it was the media who informed him about the situation and added that nobody could be blamed for such a situation.
He said he was in the Kanakpura court and rushed to the stadium. Shivakumar also urged people not to politicise the issue.
“Don’t just talk about politics. This is dirty politics. BJP and JD(S) play politics on dead bodies, that is their agenda,” the deputy chief minister said. He added that the mother of a kid asked for no postmortem, but for legal reasons, they had to.
Meanwhile, Jagadeesha said notices will be served to Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), RCB , event manager and the police after magisterial inquiry.
“I visited the Chinnaswamy stadium and the entrance gates where this stampede had taken place. I have collected all the information here. Besides this, I will go through CCTV footages and news channel clippings which will be also part of our report. I will also serve notices to Karnataka State Cricket Association, police, RCB and event manager in this issue.”
(With inputs from Nolan Pinto.)
