Cong Top Brass Assures State Unit of No Intervention in Stampede Probe

Days after the stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives, the Congress high command on Tuesday assured Karnataka's leadership that it will not intervene in the ongoing judicial investigation into the incident.

- Arun Dev

BENGALURU: Meanwhile, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced its decision to hold a series of protests from June 13 against the Congress-led state government.

At a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar briefed the party's high command—including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi—on the measures taken by the state government in the wake of the tragedy on June 4 during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebrations.

After the meeting, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal told reporters that the leadership was briefed about the stampede and the government's response. "We also discussed the current political situation, including the tragic incident that happened in Bengaluru. CM and PCC president briefed the leadership about the incident and the action taken by the government afterwards. We are concerned about every single life. We didn't want to get involved already; a judicial probe has been ordered, but we want the probe to be completed in a fixed tenure," he said.

Venugopal also underscored the party's decision to refrain from interfering in the probe process. "Certainly, we are very much concerned about every human life. We are the party that believes every life matters more. An unfortunate incident happened. The government of Karnataka has already ordered a judicial inquiry to find out what exactly occurred," he said.

"During the course of the judicial inquiry, the party does not want to delve into the nitty-gritty of the issue. But, generally, the party has clearly viewed that there should be a clear-cut pro-people attitude on this as well," he added.