August 23, 2025

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah came out with some powerful words on Friday! Talking about the deadly stampede at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium in June, where 11 people lost their lives, he pointed fingers at "mass hysteria" as the main culprit. In the Assembly, while discussing the June 4 stampede, the CM read out a shocking list of 20 such stampedes that happened in BJP-ruled states. He took the members down memory lane starting from August 3, 2008, when a stampede at the Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district, under then CM Prem Singh Dhumal, turned tragic. Then came the Jodhpur stampede in 2008 that killed a massive 250 people. But that’s not all. The list included the Ratangarh stampede in 2013, Haridwar in 2021, Sehore in Madhya Pradesh in 2023, and the Hathras nightmare in Uttar Pradesh this year, which took 121 lives. Siddaramaiah also reminded everyone of the Prayagraj stampede during the Kumbh Mela in January 2024 that claimed 39 lives. Plus, the tragic Gujarat Morbi bridge collapse in 2022 where 135 people died. Siddaramaiah threw a sharp question: "Did Yogi Adityanath resign as UP CM" after the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela tragedy? This hint clearly questioned the accountability in BJP governments. The CM shared his personal pain and said, "In my 42 years of political life, never such an incident took place. I had never seen 11 people dying in a stampede. I am pained. I expressed my sorrow the same day." Why did the stampede happen at the Chinnaswamy stadium? Siddaramaiah explained that many people saw Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)'s IPL victory as a huge pride for Bengaluru. This enormous excitement or "mass hysteria" created the dangerous rush that led to the tragedy. With a pinch of realism, the CM said, "We sometimes have to bow to the people's expectations in democracy. That's the sign of democracy," and also shared that he had to attend the RCB victory celebration. This shows the strong feelings cricket stirs in India! Siddaramaiah’s words remind us about safety and responsibility when large crowds gather for fun and celebrations. Such tragedies call for serious attention and better crowd management, no matter which political party rules.

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Tags: Siddaramaiah, Chinnaswamy stampede, Bjp states, Mass hysteria, Rcb ipl victory, Stampede deaths,