Siddaramaiah's Kumbh Parallel After Bengaluru Stampede, BJP's "Selfie" Reply

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Kumbh remark after a stampede at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium claimed 11 lives has drawn a sharp response from senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi. Mr Joshi has said yesterday's tragedy and the Kumbh stampede are "incomparable".

Grand celebrations at India's Silicon Valley to mark the end of Royal Challengers Bangalore's 18-year wait for the IPL trophy turned tragic after stampedes at two gates of the stadium as the crowd rushed to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricket stars. Eleven people were killed and 47 others injured in the incident.

Amid criticism over inadequate crowd management preparations, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressed a press conference in which he announced compensation for the families of those killed and free treatment for those injured.

"Such incidents happened in so many places. I am not going to defend this by comparing it with them now, by saying it happened here and there. In Kumbh Mela, 50-60 people died, but I didn't criticise it. If Congress criticises, then that is a different matter. Did I or the Karnataka government criticise?" he asked.

The remark drew a sharp counter from veteran BJP leader Pralhad Joshi. Targeting the state government, Mr Joshi said it cannot escape responsibility by drawing comparisons. "Kumbh and this is incomparable. When police denied permission, why did you force them? My second question to Siddaramaiah is, after the deaths, you continue your celebration? Why did Deputy Chief Minister (DK Shivakumar) go to receive them? They are busy with selfies, nobody is bothered about what has happened to the common man."

He said the Kumbh tragedy was handled sensitively. "No one was taking selfies. A judicial inquiry must be conducted. The government has to reply. This is highly condemnable."

Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar yesterday apologised for the incident and said the administration did not expect such a massive crowd. "The stadium's capacity is 35,000, but more than 3 lakh people were there. Gates have been broken. We apologise for this incident. We want to know the facts and give a clear message," he said.

He accused the BJP of politicising the incident. "BJP is doing politics. We are very sorry for the incident. We will work out a better solution in the future," he said.