As Bengaluru mourns the loss of 11 lives in the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) victory celebrations, a parallel storm of outrage is brewing. This time, it is over the access given to children and grandchildren of Karnataka Congress’s political elite during RCB’s felicitation event at Vidhana Soudha.
Photos and videos of a handful of family members of Congress leaders in the state government including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah posing with RCB players have gone viral on social media.
Among those spotted were Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s grandson Dhawan Rakesh and Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan’s son Zaid, both seen smiling with the cricketers. Around the same time, fans outside Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is around 1.5km away, battled suffocating crowds and mismanagement.
According to media reports, grandsons of other senior ministers, including Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa were also among those granted access.
The Opposition too has come down heavily on the government over this. “Children of Congress ministers and lawmakers received royal treatment on the stage while citizens suffered on the street. There, people died due to a stampede and ran helter-skelter to save their lives. Here, Congress leaders and their children wore cooling glasses and took selfies,” Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said on social media.
Calling the event a government-organised “photo-op,” former Mysuru MP Pratap Simha questioned the intent behind hosting cricketers at the state building.
“Was the RCB party held at Vidhana Soudha for the sons of MLA Rizwan Arshad and Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, the Chief Secretary’s daughter, or the Chief Minister’s grandson?” he asked.
Pratap also questioned the government’s urgency in holding the event just a day later, asking whether Virat Kohli had personally called to confirm his immediate availability.