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As the chorus for his resignation grew louder, Siddaramaiah turned the tables on the opposition by citing a list of 20 stampedes and tragedies that occurred in BJP-ruled states
The June 4 stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium has now become more than a tragedy—it is now a political battlefield testing both Siddaramaiah’s crisis management and his grip on power.
File pic/PTI
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has countered the opposition BJP’s demand of stepping down, taking responsibility for the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede where eleven lives were lost.
The opposition has been baying for his blood, but the Karnataka chief minister has been digging in his heels as the BJP seeks his ouster.
As the chorus for the resignation of the CM reached a new pitch with the BJP seeking a discussion on the issue in the house and his resignation, Siddaramaiah turned the tables on the opposition by reeling off a list of 20 stampedes and tragedies that occurred in BJP-ruled states—from the 2008 Naina Devi temple tragedy in Himachal Pradesh to the 2013 Ratangarh stampede in Madhya Pradesh to the recent Hathras disaster in Uttar Pradesh that claimed 121 lives. He went further, invoking the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat that killed 135 people and the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela stampede this January that left 39 dead.
The June 4 stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium has now become more than a tragedy—it is now a political battlefield testing both Siddaramaiah’s crisis management and his grip on power.
The BJP latched onto the deaths to demand the chief minister’s resignation, accusing him of negligence, insensitivity, and lack of accountability.
The BJP’s attack line has been simple: responsibility stops at the top.
Siddaramaiah, however, raised questions: Did any BJP chief minister resign? Did Prime Minister Modi take responsibility for Morbi? Did UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath quit when the stampede in Kumbh Mela took place? Why, then, should Karnataka’s Congress government be held to a different standard?
Siddaramaiah and the Congress government, while accepting that the incident was unfortunate, said, “People saw RCB’s victory as Bengaluru’s pride. The mass hysteria created by it was behind the stampede.”
The line of defence by Siddaramaiah is not new. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had already set the tone, dismissing the Bengaluru stampede as “accidental” and asking why the BJP’s outrage was selective. Siddaramaiah has sharpened that line, placing the tragedy in a national context where resignations after mass deaths are unheard of. In his words: “In the Air India crash, did anyone from the NDA or BJP resign? Were those not people who died?”
Political analyst Sandeep Shastri makes the point that if the opposition has to strongly criticise the Congress government in Karnataka, it has to be on the fiscal health of the state.
“The issue where the government is the weakest is its fiscal position, but I don’t see anything happening or anything being said. Maybe criticism of the fiscal situation of the government does not seem politically fashionable, and you are not being able to attract political limelight with it. That is why the BJP is focusing on issues that will help them hog the political limelight,” said the analyst.
But the BJP is hoping to corner the CM into quitting, calling his stance entirely irresponsible and seeking his resignation, as he is accountable to the people of Karnataka.
The chief minister had admitted on record that he had been at a hotel eating dosa with his grandson when news of the stampede broke—a detail the BJP has weaponised to paint him as callous and irresponsible. “Yes, I went. My grandson had come from London and wanted dosa. I didn’t know then. At 5.30 pm, I got the call. Immediately, I acted,” Siddaramaiah told the house.
For Siddaramaiah, the incident comes at a politically vulnerable moment. Within the Congress, murmurs about a leadership change refuse to die down, with pressure mounting over the “2.5 years each” power-sharing formula with deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar.
Analyst Sandeep Shastri says the BJP sees an opportunity in what it thinks is a division in the state unit of the Congress. There seems to be a perception that there is a proxy war between the CM and his deputy. The BJP is fishing in troubled waters. The divisions are there because a lot of people are looking at the developments. Not only the Congress but the opposition too is seeing it through that lens.
“Given the sharp differences within the party, even the opposition would like to highlight that and seek advantage of that. Typically, the CM has responded, saying this is not the first stampede that has happened in recent times,” said Shastri.
Rahul Gandhi’s pulling up the Congress in Karnataka for the incident after a briefing by the chief minister and deputy CM soon after the incident also added to the unease. Sources say Gandhi was visibly upset, calling the tragedy “avoidable” and urging the CM and his deputy to enforce stricter accountability. That gentle rebuke from the top brass has only emboldened Siddaramaiah’s critics inside his own party.
The real test, however, lies in the details. Justice D’Cunha’s commission report is already in, and the deputy commissioner has submitted his findings. Any adverse mention of lapses by the police or state machinery could sharpen calls for accountability. For now, Siddaramaiah has shielded himself by accepting K Govindraj’s resignation as his political secretary, setting up an SIT to investigate the matter, and awaiting the D’Cunha commission report.
Yet the opposition isn’t buying it. “If the government wasn’t at fault, why sack Govindraj? The main culprit is Siddaramaiah himself,” BJP state president BY Vijayendra said.
“Eleven innocent lives lost, and the CM says it’s the police’s fault. Aren’t the police under his government? His explanation is unacceptable,” said leader of opposition R Ashoka.
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t…Read More
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t… Read More
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