Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was apparently "unhappy with the duplicity shown" by his political secretary, MLC K Govindaraj, in the wake of Bengaluru stampede deaths that led to his sacking on Friday, top sources have told NDTV.
Eleven people died in a crowd crush outside M Chinnaswamy stadium, as tens of thousands turned up to cheer Royal Challengers Bengaluru's title win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday.
"The appointment of K Govindaraj as Political Secretary to the Chief Minister is hereby revoked with immediate effect. Accordingly, K Govindaraj is hereby relieved from the post of Political Secretary to the Chief Minister with immediate effect," an official notification said today.
Siddaramaiah suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and four other senior police officials in connection with the stampede incident.
"Action has been taken against those who, on the surface, failed to discharge their responsibilities," Siddaramaiah had said.
Sources said during a meeting at the Chief Minister's house on Wednesday morning - hours before the stampede - Mr Govindaraj had pushed for the RCB celebrations and the felicitation ceremony to be allowed despite the police commissioner refusing to agree to three events and stating that a victory parade could not be given a go-ahead.
But a quote given by him to a newspaper contradicted this completely, sai the sources.
"When he was asked by the newspaper if it was him who advised the Chief Minister to participate in the felicitation at Vidhan Soudha, he allegedly claimed that he in fact advised the Chief Minister against holding or participating in the event. This was used as a quote in an article," said the source.
The now former political advisor to the Chief Minister has claimed that he was misquoted by the newspaper.
"This duplicity is said to have irked the Chief Minister. He also called cops to go easy on some big names who were picked up in the stampede case. All this is said to be the reason behind his ouster," the source added.
Earlier this morning, the Karnataka police said they have arrested four people in connection with the stampede, including Nikhil Sosale, the head of marketing for RCB. Mr Sosale, who handles all promotional activities for the RCB, was arrested from the Bengaluru airport around 6.30 am.
The other three people who were arrested were officials of the event management company DNA Entertainment Private Limited, including its Vice-President Sunil Mathew, who handles IPL events for the company.
All the victims of the stampede tragedy are under 40, with a 14-year-old girl being the youngest.
BJP State President BY Vijayendra has questioned how the event was allowed despite the police refusing permission.
"Who in the government granted the approval?" he asked. "Lakhs of RCB fans gathered near Vidhana Soudha -- who authorised this?" he added.
He said that no permission was granted for Chinnaswamy Stadium either, and the FIR states the event was illegal.
"Despite this, why did Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar go to Chinnaswamy Stadium and take part in the celebration? Why did he hold and kiss the trophy?" he questioned.
