Bengaluru Stampede: Congress top brass summons Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar; CM in Delhi today

Bengaluru stampede: The Congress high command has summoned Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar to the national capital over the stampede near Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people and injured scores of people on  4 June.

Siddaramaiah is expected to travel to New Delhi today, 10 June to meet Congress high command, where he is expected to discuss various developments, including the 4 June stampede.

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will travel to Delhi tomorrow,” the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement on 9 June. “Siddaramaiah will meet party leadership in Delhi and will brief them on the latest developments,” it said.

The stampede occurred on June 4 evening in front of the Chinnaswamy stadium here, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people died and 56 were injured in the incident.

Siddaramaiah had on Sunday denied reports that the Congress high command had sought information from him regarding the stampede incident.

Shivakumar is already is in Delhi today. When reporters asked him on Tuesday if he planned to meet the party top brass, he replied that he would not be doing so this time as he has to attend an urgent meeting in Bengaluru and will return to Karnataka.

I was informed much later: Siddaramaiah

On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah said he became aware of the deaths only at 5.45 pm, nearly two hours after they were reported at the hospital.

“I came to know the deaths happened at 5.45pm. At 3.50pm, deaths were reported at the hospital, but I came to know about it only at 5.45pm. Until that point, I was not aware of deaths taking place due to the stampede. I have taken action against whoever has done wrong,” he said.

The Chief Minister also distanced himself from the event and its planning. “The incident happened near the cricket stadium. I have no connection with that. It should not have happened,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)