Bengaluru, June 7 (IANS) Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday challenged the Congress leadership to initiate action against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar over the Chinnaswamy stampede incident, which claimed 11 lives.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Bengaluru, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment, said, “If the High Command has any capacity, I want to ask the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, are you bankrupt? Are there no leaders in Karnataka other than CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM Shivakumar?”

“Appoint other leaders and investigate them. You talk about the country on foreign soil; don’t you have the capacity to punish your own leaders when they are found guilty?” she said.

The MoS said that the Congress leadership was mum as “Karnataka is its ATM”.

Countering the Congress’ claim that the stampede incident was an accident, she asked, “If it is an accident, why didn’t you open all the gates of Chinnaswamy Stadium? There was no one to control the crowd. Why are you protecting Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) office bearers? What’s your relation with them? What was the urgency for the KSCA to felicitate RCB? What is your relation with RCB, which is a private franchise?”

Attacking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, she stated, “You got blood on your hands, and you can’t escape. This tragedy occurred due to a craze for publicity. I don’t know whether someone from the state Congress will become an IPL franchise owner. Anything can happen in the state.”

“The parents have lost their young children in the stampede. A youth studying M.Tech in my constituency died. The family is now in such a state of depression that they didn’t want to bring his body to their residence in Bengaluru and took it to their native place. They clearly said they wanted no one to visit them,” she recounted.

“You have committed a mistake and are passing the blame on the police officers. I want to ask CM and Dy CM, why did you want to celebrate it? We can understand if an Olympic gold medallist or champion teams representing the country are felicitated. When a private franchise like the RCB wins, you think of felicitating them,” she questioned.

“You post about it and go to receive them at the airport. The grand steps of Vidhana Soudha were used for swearing-in ceremonies of new governments. There, you bring a private team. The PWD Department, while giving permission, stated that seating arrangements had to be made on stage for only 25 to 30 persons. But your family, children, grandchildren from CM Siddaramaiah, Minister Zameer Ahmad Khan, Minister Ramalinga Reddy-there were 300 to 350 persons,” she chided.

“In front of you, people stood unsafely on the terrace of the High Court; people were seen dangerously sitting on top of trees on branches. How did you issue permission?” she asked.

–IANS

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