New Delhi: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar trashed rumours that he was planning to buy a stake in the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
When asked if he was eyeing to purchase RCB, Shivakumar emphatically said: “I am not a mad man. I’m just a member of the Karnataka Cricket Association from my younger days, that’s all.”
“I don’t have time, though I had offers to be part of the management. My own education institution, I resigned and left it to my other family members to take care of it. Why do I need RCB? I don’t even drink Royal Challenge,” he added, as he rubbished the buzz on social media linking him to the franchise.
His reaction comes after Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla lambasted the Congress-led state government for the stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that left 11 people dead.
Accusing the government of making the police the “scapegoat”, Poonawalla pointed out that the administration was looting Karnataka with “false promises” and evading responsibility for the stampede.
Joshi demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar should quit as their approach was “irresponsible”. He added that warnings issued by senior cops, including a letter by the Deputy Commissioner of Police advising against holding large-scale celebrations within 24 hours of the IPL final, were downplayed.
Even though several warnings were issued, the event was allowed to go on. Shivakumar himself attended the celebrations. After the stampede tragedy, a number of key police officials, including the head of Cubbon Park Police Station, were suspended. The state has launched a judicial investigation, to be headed by a retired High Court judge, into the incident.
