CM, DyCM to meet Cong leadership

The Congress high command on Monday issued summons to chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar to Delhi in the wake of the stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 that killed 11 people and injured scores of people.

- Arun Dev

BENGALURU:

This comes amid signs of a widening rift between the two leaders, with Siddaramaiah indirectly shifting blame toward Shivakumar for the mishap while the CM distanced himself from the incident.

"CM Siddaramaiah will meet party leadership in Delhi and will brief them on the latest developments," a statement from the chief minister's office said.

Both leaders have been asked to meet Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday morning.

While Shivakumar is already in Delhi for a government programme, Siddaramaiah is scheduled to fly to Delhi in the morning.

The stampede occurred on June 4 evening outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium during an event organised to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru's win in the IPL.

The chaos left 11 people dead and more than 56 injured.

Siddaramaiah did not attend the event at the stadium, which began around 6.10pm, and was attended by Shivakumar.

The CM was at the celebration at Vidhana Soudha.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Sunday, Siddaramaiah said he became aware of the deaths only at 5.45pm, 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.

Distancing himself from the event and its planning, he said: "The incident happened near the cricket stadium.

I have no connection with that.

It should not have happened."

His remarks have been interpreted by leaders within the party and outside as an attempt to subtly assign responsibility to Shivakumar, who was present at the stadium and has been more closely associated with organising public events.