Mysuru: City BJP workers staged a protest near Ramaswamy Circle in the city yesterday, condemning the decision of the State Government to suspend Police Officers including Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, for the stampede that claimed 11 lives at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru recently, where lakhs of cricket fans had turned up for the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL-18 T-20 cricket tournament.

The protesters, led by Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa and City BJP President L. Nagendra, demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah be named as Accused-1, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar as Accused-2 and Home Minster Dr. G. Parameshwar as Accused-3 by booking a case against them. Besides, all the three should tender resignation for their posts respectively.

The protesters raised slogans calling the Congress-headed State Government as the most evil for claiming 11 innocent lives for its own mileage, lawlessness and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah being the most corrupt CM ever seen in the country.

MLA Srivatsa said, while the Government has held the Police Officers responsible for the stampede incident and has taken action against them by suspending them, there is no such action yet against Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) — now Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) — officers in the site irregularities case.

CM Siddaramaiah has been misusing officers as per his whims and deserting them after getting publicity, which is incondonable, said Srivatsa.

Who gave permission for holding the felicitation programme for RCB team in front of Vidhana Soudha? Was it correct to hold two programmes on the same day? Asked Srivatsa, who mocked Dy.CM D.K. Shivakumar for holding RCB flag, as a publicity stunt. CM and Dy.CM are directly responsible for the death of 11 people in the stampede, but have made the Police Officers scapegoats to hide their mistakes, he charged.

City BJP President L. Nagendra said, the RCB cricketers were invited to Vidhana Soudha only for a photo op with the family members of the Chief Minister, Dy.CM and Ministers  including their children, grandchildren, along with the IPL Trophy. But the 11 innocents had to pay with their lives for the cheap publicity gimmick of the political leaders.

State BJP OBC Morcha President R. Raghu, State BJP Minority Morcha President Dr. Anil Thomas, former Chairman of Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) Mirle Srinivas Gowda, former Mayor Shivakumar, former Deputy Mayor V. Shylendra, City BJP General Secretaries Cable Mahesh and Giridhar, former Corporator B.V. Manjunath, former Zilla Panchayat Member Mangala Somashekar, Nishant, Lohit, Paduvarahalli Ramakrishna, Kiran Gowda, Gokul Govardhan and other leaders were present.