Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, addressing the tragic stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru that killed 11 people and injured nearly 50, stated clearly that he would not defend the incident but emphasized that such tragedies have happened before in India.
In a press conference held on Thursday, Siddaramaiah referenced past events like the Kumbh Mela stampede, saying,
“These kinds of stampedes have occurred. Even worse ones have happened. Using that, I am not defending... it happened in Kumbh Mela also… about 50–60 people died.”
While the CM attempted to put the tragedy in perspective by citing the January 2025 Kumbh Mela stampede in Prayagraj, which killed 30 and injured 60, he insisted that his reference was not an excuse, nor an attempt to deflect responsibility.
Siddaramaiah clarified that the event was not organised by the state government, but by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). He said:
“The government only gave permission and deployed the entire Bengaluru police force for security. We did not host the event in the stadium.”
He explained that while over one lakh people gathered safely in front of the Vidhana Soudha, the crowd at the stadium far exceeded expectations:
“The stadium’s capacity is 35,000, but around 2 to 3 lakh people turned up. This was entirely unexpected.”
The stampede occurred after a temporary slab placed over a drain collapsed due to the crowd’s weight, leading to panic and chaos. Despite entry being pass-based, people gathered in overwhelming numbers, driven by excitement over RCB’s historic first IPL title win.
The chief minister also provided a status update on the injured, saying:
“47 people were injured. Many had only minor injuries and weren’t admitted. All the injured are out of danger.”
The tragedy has sparked questions about crowd control, planning failures, and venue capacity management. As investigations continue, KSCA and the local police are facing criticism for inadequate crowd management and poor infrastructure assessment, especially after such a massive public turnout was anticipated.
The government has announced compensation of ₹5 lakh to the families of the deceased.
