Published Jun 11, 2025 | 8:12 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2025 | 8:12 PM
The Chief Minister’s clarification has blurred the lines between official state involvement and a supposed private function hosted by a sporting body.
Synopsis: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has admitted to personally inviting Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to the RCB felicitation on 4 June at the Vidhana Soudha, while insisting the event was organised solely by the Karnataka State Cricket Association. The ceremony took place on the steps of the state legislature and was attended by the governor, the chief minister and cabinet ministers. The clarification has raised further questions about the government’s role in a supposedly private function.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, 11 June, clarified that Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot was personally invited by him to the first of the two Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) felicitation ceremonies held on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha on 4 June.
“The Governor did not come to the event organised on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha on his own. I invited him. I am providing this clarification as it was reported that the Governor had come on his own. On 4 June, the Karnataka Cricket Association and RCB organised a felicitation programme for RCB players,” he wrote in a post on X.
“That morning at 11.29 am, Shankar and Jayaram from KSCA invited me and requested me to attend the programme. I agreed to this. Later, they told me that they had invited the Governor. However, it has been spread in the newspapers and media that the Governor had come on his behalf, which is wrong information.”
He continued:
“Govindaraju, who was my Political Secretary, called the Governor and gave me the phone. I was also on my way to the programme at that time and invited him to come. The Governor also arrived for the event. The felicitation programme was over in 20 minutes.”
ವಿಧಾನಸೌಧದ ಮೆಟ್ಟಿಲುಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಂಡ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲರು ಅವರಾಗಿಯೇ ಬರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ನಾನೇ ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸಿದ್ದೆ. ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಸುದ್ದಿ ವಾಹಿನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲರು ತಾವಾಗಿಯೇ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು ಎಂದು ವರದಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಈ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟೀಕರಣ ನೀಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.
ಜೂನ್ 4 ರಂದು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಆರ್.ಸಿ.ಬಿ ವತಿಯಿಂದ…
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) June 11, 2025
However, the clarification has raised more questions, as it contradicts the Chief Minister’s earlier attempts at distancing his government entirely from the events leading up to the deadly stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the second felicitation ceremony was being held.
On 4 June, two back-to-back felicitation events were held in central Bengaluru for the RCB team, who were celebrating their first IPL title win. The first ceremony, hosted on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha, began in the afternoon and concluded without incident.
The second, held outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium less than a kilometre away, descended into chaos after an estimated 2.5 lakh fans surged into the stadium, leaving 11 dead and over 50 others injured.
On the evening of 4 June, hours after the tragedy, Siddaramaiah addressed a press conference at his official residence.
He told reporters that “the government had permitted a celebration” – referring to the Vidhana Soudha event – and asserted that it had gone off without a hitch.
He attributed the stampede to an unexpectedly large turnout of fans and narrow entry points at the stadium, and announced that a magisterial inquiry had been ordered.
The next day, on 5 June, five police officers, including the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, were suspended for “dereliction of duty” – without any formal investigation. The decision drew criticism as a hasty attempt to fix accountability solely on the police.
On 6 June, the government removed MLC K Govindaraj from the post of Political Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Govindaraj, known to be closely associated with sporting bodies including the KSCA, was reportedly involved in the planning of the felicitation ceremonies.
No official reason was cited for his removal, but government sources have linked it to a letter dated 4 June which could implicate the Chief Minister’s Office in the coordination of the events.
Then, on 8 June, the Chief Minister took a further step back. He maintained that the KSCA had led even the Vidhana Soudha ceremony and that both he and the Governor had attended on the Association’s invitation.
“They [KSCA] told me even Governor Gehlot was attending. I wasn’t invited to the stadium,” The Times of India quoted him as saying.
While the Chief Minister’s clarification on Wednesday reiterates that stance, it has also blurred the lines between official state involvement and a supposed private function hosted by a sporting body.
Especially since the Chief Minister had admitted to the central role of his then Political Secretary Govindaraju, who was sacked days later.
With the event being held on the steps of the state legislature and the Governor attending at the Chief Minister’s behest, the characterisation of the Vidhana Soudha ceremony as a “KSCA-led event” raises a critical question: why, if the event was indeed private, was it held at a state venue with seemingly full government support?
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
