Days after Bengaluru stampede, Congress High Command summons Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar to Delhi

Siddaramaiah had on Sunday denied reports that the Congress high command had sought information from him regarding the stampede incident.

Days after a stampede near Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives, the Congress high command has summoned Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to Delhi.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will travel to New Delhi on June 10 to meet Congress high command, where he is expected to discuss various developments, including June 4 stampede that killed 11 people, reported news agency PTI.

“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will travel to Delhi tomorrow,” the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement.“Siddaramaiah will meet party leadership in Delhi and will brief them on the latest developments,” the PTI report said.

The stampede occurred on June 4 evening in front of the Chinnaswamy stadium, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people died and 56 were injured in the incident.

Siddaramaiah had on Sunday denied reports that the Congress high command had sought information from him regarding the stampede incident. DK Shivakumar is already in the national capital for a government program, and is likely to extend his stay to meet Gandhi.

Addressing reporters in Mysuru on Sunday, Siddaramaiah said, “This incident shouldn’t have happened, it happened at the Cricket stadium. I don’t have any connection with the cricket stadium."

Asked about the allegation that the then Bengaluru Police commissioner B Dayananda was made a scapegoat, he said, the Commissioner alone has not been suspended, five officers have been suspended, and the intelligence chief has been changed. The Opposition has been demanding the resignation of the chief minister and deputy chief minister over the matter.