The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly criticized the Congress-led Karnataka government over its official report on the tragic stampede incident during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) IPL victory parade. The incident on June 4 claimed 11 lives and left nearly 50 injured near Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
BJP alleges government trying to wash hands of its failure
BJP MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Aravind Bellad alleged that the Siddaramaiah government is now deflecting blame after earlier basking in the glory of RCB’s long-awaited title win. According to Bellad, the government, which initially rushed to associate itself with the franchise’s first-ever IPL victory in 18 years, is now unfairly blaming RCB and its star player Virat Kohli for the deadly crowd chaos.
“The government wanted credit when RCB won. Now they are blaming the team and Kohli for the deaths. This is nothing but evading responsibility,” Bellad said in a sharp statement. He further pointed out that the government had also invited crowds through its own channels, including Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and senior officials, who appeared on television encouraging public participation in the celebrations.
State report cites RCB’s role in crowd build-up
As per the government report, made public following a High Court directive, RCB shared social media posts and a video of Kohli inviting fans to join the celebrations — allegedly without consulting police authorities. The report claims that these posts contributed to a massive turnout of over 3 lakh people at the stadium, which only has a capacity of around 35,000. Confusion over entry passes and crowd control reportedly fueled the tragic stampede at some entry gates.
However, Bellad questioned the government’s logic. “If RCB is solely responsible, why did the government suspend police officials? The Chief Minister should apologise to the former police commissioner,” he said, arguing that the government had the authority to deny permission for such a large-scale event.
High Court rejected secrecy plea over report
Interestingly, the state government had requested the Karnataka High Court to keep the report confidential, but the court ruled there were no valid legal grounds to do so. The disclosure has now intensified political backlash.
Government defends decision to continue with celebrations
The report also explains why the event was not cancelled after the stampede. Authorities cited concerns that abruptly calling off the event might have triggered further unrest and jeopardized citywide law and order. Instead, officials opted to shorten the event and step up crowd monitoring.
Despite this explanation, the BJP insists the incident reflects administrative failure and poor planning, and demands accountability from the top leadership.