Bengaluru, July 18 (IANS) The BJP on Friday slammed the Karnataka government for its report on the Bengaluru stampede, in which it blamed the police and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the tragic incident.

Speaking to media persons at the party office in Bengaluru, BJP MLA C. N. Ashwath Narayan said the government report submitted on the tragedy is highly condemnable.

“Police officers had opposed the event. Yet they shifted the blame onto the police and RCB. Now, industries are fleeing the state. No more sporting events will be held here,” he warned.

On the stampede incident that killed 11 people during the RCB victory celebration, he asked, “Who is responsible for maintaining law and order? Why did the Deputy Chief Minister go to the stadium without permission? Even when people were dying, he was busy kissing the trophy. And the Chief Minister – even after learning that people had died – continued to enjoy masala dosa at a hotel.”

“Why did they organise a victory celebration near Vidhana Soudha without permission? Is this government being run by RCB, KSCA, and DNA? They should be ashamed. Taking people’s lives has become their ‘achievement’,” he said.

Meanwhile, BJP State chief and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra said, “Justice Michael D’Cunha has not yet submitted a complete report. The CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar were in a race to claim credit for RCB’s win. Their desperate attempts for publicity led to the loss of 11 lives.”

“Now, they have submitted a half-baked status report to the High Court,” he slammed.

“The Chief Minister and Deputy CM should have taken responsibility,” he said.

The Karnataka government, in its status report to the High Court, put the blame mainly on the RCB.

While submitting the report on the incident, in its answers to the specific set of questions raised by the Karnataka High Court, the state government also cited RCB’s social media posts on celebrations, including a video clip featuring cricketer Virat Kohli.

–IANS

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