RCB sought nod for victory fete even before match began: Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru: Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that he was surprised over the RCB management’s request seeking permission to hold RCB’s victory celebration even before the IPL final started. 

He told reporters here, “It is surprising that the RCB’s management submitted a request around 6 pm on the day of the match seeking permission for the victory celebrations, while the match itself was scheduled to begin at 7.30 pm. How is this possible? How did the RCB management know in advance that their team will win?”

Kumaraswamy even mentioned about the request by it to the department of personnel and administrative reforms, requesting for permission to conduct a programme in front of Vidhana Soudha. 

“Who wrote all these letters? We know who pressured the police commissioner at 7.30 am the next day. I have spoken based on facts. I have no intention to corner the government,” he said.  Responding to the removal of MLC K Govindaraj from the post of political secretary to the chief minister, the union minister said it was a ‘good decision’ and ‘congratulated the government for finally realizing its mistake’.

However, Kumaraswamy criticized the suspension of five police officers, saying it was unnecessary.

“If the government continues to act in this manner, officers will not be able to function. It is not right to make officers the scapegoats to cover up their own mistakes. The government should have been careful. The root cause of the incident lies elsewhere. The government is hiding it,” the former CM said.

Responding to the CM and his deputy accusing BJP and JD(S) of doing politics over deaths, the union minister said, “We don’t need to indulge in such politics. We only mentioned what actually happened. The people have seen everything. The media has shown everything,” he said. 

CM DCM have blood on their hands: Shobha

Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar have “blood on their hands” as she held them directly responsible for the June 4 stampede that killed 11 people. Demanding a probe by a sitting High Court judge she slammed the state government for suspending IPS officer B Dayananda and four other cops.