Government Had Nothing To Do With RCB Celebration: Siddaramaiah's Adviser

The Karnataka government had nothing to do with the event at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium that led to the stampede following the IPL victory of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, said AS Ponnanna, Congress MLA and legal advisor to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. With the matter snowballing into a massive political row as the government appeared to point fingers at the police and the RCB, Mr Ponnanna asserted that the government did not announce the event or organise it.  

"The RCB is the franchisee that won the IPL. They wanted to celebrate... so that their ratings, their valuation, their team goes up because huge people are going to gather. KSCA is the location where this whole celebration takes place. DNA is the in-between media agency. The police are the ones who are supposed to man and provide security, ensure that such assemblies take place well within law and order limits, make sure nobody gets hurt, make sure nobody dies... So, these are the stakeholders," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview today.  

When something like this happens, the opposition and others join the bandwagon and point fingers at the government, he said. 

"It may all look good," he added, but the "cold facts" say the government has "nothing to do with this celebration".

Asked about how many people felt that Mr Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar were part of the celebration and appeared to want to take credit, Mr Ponnanna said the government was not the one to permit or stop the event. It was merely a participant, who cannot be held liable.

"It may suit TRP, it may suit the opposition to make this a political issue, but not everything is political," he said. 

Earlier today, the RCB strongly objected to the Central Administrative Tribunal's order that said the franchisee was responsible for the June 4 stampede that left 11 people dead and 56 injured. The RCB told the Karnataka High Court today that it wants such statements expunged.  

"It was the Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, who had picked the team from the airport, and took them to the Vidhan Soudha, where announcements were made about the event at the stadium," RCB's advocate Sandesh Chouta had told the court. 

The CAT order on the June 4 stampede has said after their maiden IPL win, the champions had failed to consult the police or seek their permission before "unilaterally" inviting lakhs of people to the celebration at the stadium.

The report had also highlighted the RCB's failure to follow standard operating procedures to ensure safety before hosting a public event. 

Mr Ponnanna pointed out that the RCB bearing responsibility for the tragedy was not the conclusion of just the government and multiple inquiries are being conducted into the matter. Besides the CAT case, there is a one-man Judicial Commission of Inquiry, a Magistral Inquiry and the parallel investigation by the police.

The state government had faced massive criticism of mismanagement after the stampede, with reports indicating that the police were hamstrung by having their forces split between the stadium and the Vidhan Soudha where the Chief Minister and other dignitaries waited. 

The government action against the police - with suspension of three top officers - also drew much criticism from the opposition.
  
Initial inquiry also indicated that contrary to the government's claim that the event was a last-minute plan, the RCB had posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the felicitation event on June 4.