New Delhi, June 6 (IANS) Hitting out at the ruling Congress in Karnataka over the stampede near Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Friday demanded the resignations of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar.

Speaking to IANS, Bhandari said, “If DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have even one per cent of sensitivity, they should resign from their positions. But we know they won’t because when ordinary Kannadigas were dying in front of the stadium, they were busy celebrating. You can’t expect anything from such people. The Karnataka Congress government, acting on Rahul Gandhi’s instructions, has exposed its mindset that it does not care for the lives of the common citizens of Bengaluru.”

He further said, “Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are directly responsible for the death of 11 innocent people in Karnataka. If an FIR should be filed against anyone, it should be against the Karnataka Chief Minister and D.K. Shivakumar.”

“Everyone knows that they (Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar) knew very well that the police did not want the event to be held within 24 hours when there was a possibility of so much crowd coming outside the stadium. But despite that, due to the pressure of DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, this entire event took place, and police personnel were deployed for VIP security, but not for the security of common Kannadigas of Karnataka. Out of 21, only three gates were opened for the public,” Bhandari added.

“The Karnataka government is filing FIRs against the policemen to wash its hands of the matter. They are suspending them, and KCA is saying that it gave permission, but the Karnataka stadium has clarified, and the Karnataka authority has clarified that permission was sought by the state government. This makes it clear that the micro planning behind the entire event was being done by the chief minister and DK Shivakumar himself. So, the person against whom they want to file an FIR… he only wants to pass the buck,” the BJP leader further said.

“The buck stops with the chief minister. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar are individually criminally negligent, and an FIR should be launched against them. The Magisterial inquiry is a hogwash. The truth can only come out, and the victims can only get justice when the chief minister resigns from his post, and DK Shivakumar faces an inquiry for criminal negligence,” BJP leader Bhandari stated.

–IANS

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