Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday invoked a series of tragedies across the country while addressing the Assembly on the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede of June 4, which claimed 11 lives. He said 20 stampedes had occurred in BJP-ruled states, attributing them to what he called “mass hysteria.”

The CM read out a list beginning with the Naina Devi temple stampede in Himachal Pradesh (2008), during Prem Singh Dhumal’s tenure, and the Jodhpur tragedy later that year, which killed 250 people. Other incidents he cited included: Ratangarh (2013) , Haridwar (2021) , Sehore, Madhya Pradesh (2023) , Hathras, Uttar Pradesh (2024), where 121 died , Prayagraj Kumbh Mela (2025), which left 39 dead.

Siddaramaiah also pointed to the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat (2022) that killed 135, noting it as another instance of mass casualties under BJP administrations.

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Reflecting on the June 4 Bengaluru incident, he 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.”

The CM argued that the tragedy was a result of public frenzy following RCB’s IPL victory, which many saw as a matter of pride for Bengaluru. “Mass hysteria created by it was behind the stampede,” he said.

Acknowledging public sentiment, Siddaramaiah remarked: “We sometimes have to bow to the people’s expectations in democracy. That’s the sign of democracy.”

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