Other State CMs too have felicitated IPL winners and held trophies, says Home Minister Parameshwara

Defending the felicitation of the victorious RCB team on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Thursday pointed out that other States like Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu too had felicitated their IPL teams upon their victory and their Chief Ministers had led such felicitations.

Displaying the pictures of various Chief Ministers felicitating victorious IPL teams, holding trophies, the Home Minister told the Assembly that it is not a new trend. But, he expressed pain that the untoward incident (stampede) had happened in Bengaluru later in the day.

While replying to a debate in the Assembly on the June 4 stampede that claimed 11 lives, he observed that IPL had mixed commercial aspects and entertainment with cricket, and that the RCB was a private franchise and not a “State team”. However, he added, “Though it is private and commercial and does not have any members from Karnataka, it was a happy occasion as it carried the name ‘Bengaluru.’ Evidently, lakhs of people here felt happy over the victory,” he pointed out.

Karnataka was not the only State where a stampede had taken place, said the Home Minister, and listed a number of stampedes that had taken place in the last few years in different parts of the country, including the one at Prayagraj during the Kumbh Mela.

Expressing grief over 11 deaths in the stadium stampede, Dr. Parameshwara said no one had predicted it. He called it a “Black Day” in the State’s sports history.

The Home Minister, who desisted from delving into details about the stampede on the grounds that the matter was before the court, however, pointed out that there were procedural lapses as well as lapses on the part of the police and the government.

“The government only gives permission for organising the event. But the organisers will have to take responsibility. Hence, we have initiated action against organisers by filing FIRs against them and arresting them,” he said, adding that they had earlier suspended some senior police officers, while the intelligence head had been shunted out.

Stating that the government was keenly looking at measures to prevent recurrence of stampede, he said the government had brought out the Bill on crowd control.

He said 41 acres of land had been allotted near Tumakuru to  Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to build an international stadium with the capacity to accommodate one lakh people, unlike the tragedy-struck Chinnaswamy stadium that could seat only 33,000 persons. Similarly, the government was taking measures to build a sports city near Devanahalli, he said.