RCB Victory Parade Stampede: BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla Calls It State-Sponsored Disaster, Holds CM And DCM Responsible

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Pooonawalla on Friday alleged that the Bengaluru stampede was a state-sponsored man-made disaster and further held Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to be directly responsible for the tragic incident.

BJP labels stampede a 'state-sponsored disaster'

"What we have seen in the Bengaluru stampede is nothing short of a state-sponsored man-made disaster for which the CM and Deputy CM are directly responsible. They are A1 and A2, but instead of taking accountability, we see that they constantly attempt to shift the blame. DK Shivakumar, just 24 hours ago, was saying that the Police have done a fantastic job, they have done an excellent job. He was blaming the crowd," Poonawalla told ANI.

Questions over parade clearance and urgency

Poonawalla further questioned the haste to arrange a big program for the RCB team in a short span of time and also questioned the clearance given to the parade.

"We have seen the CM trying to indulge in what about and within 24 hours now, to fix the responsibility on somebody, action has been taken on series of officers but no action on the political leadership. Was this RCB team a national team? Did it win a national competition? Then why was the haste there to arrange such a big programme within 24 hours? Did the police give the clearance for the programme in Vidhana Soudha? Who gave the clearance? Who was the one who was there with the team, receiving them at airport, kissing the trophy, holding the flag, trying to take the credit through photo-op and who took the decision to continue the celebration even when deaths were occurring?" the BJP spokesperson questioned.

Stating that the blame game was another attempt by the state government to save their skin and find a scapegoat, Poonawalla questioned Congress national leader Rahul Gandhi on why there were not standards of accountability set on ministers. 

"So, this is yet another attempt to save their own skin and to find a scapegoat. One should now ask the question from Rahul Gandhi, why don't you set the same standards of accountability on A1 and A2, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, that you set on all others? They are trying to protect their skin and their responsibility by laying the blame at somebody else's doorstep," he added. 

On June 4, eleven people died and more than 30 were injured in a stampede outside Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy stadium as a huge crowd of nearly three lakh people had gathered to witness the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru which won the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

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