Bengaluru: The govt is facing a storm of criticism over the absence of political accountability for the stampede at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium which claimed 11 lives. Though the govt suspended three IPS officers and transferred another, mounting public outrage and opposition fire has centered on the fact that no minister has been held accountable for clearing Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL celebrations.At a press conference Friday, NDA partners BJP and JD(S) demanded the resignation of chief minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy DK Shivakumar, and home minister G Parameshwara. They accused the govt of making scapegoats of police officers while absolving themselves of responsibility for the tragic incident.“Congress’ high command should think about sacking both Siddaramaiah and his deputy and bringing in new faces,” said union minister HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S). “They and their supporters were jostling to secure political mileage from RCB’s victory celebrations.”He alleged that while Shivakumar was away attending a court case in Kanakapura, K Govindaraju, the CM’s political secretary, “goaded him into holding celebrations on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha”.“When his media adviser alerted him about this, the deputy CM rushed to receive the cricket team at HAL Airport. The tragedy unfolded from there,” said Kumaraswamy.BJP state president BY Vijayendra lambasted Siddaramaiah, saying, “Bengaluru’s police commissioner has been made the scapegoat in this entire episode. In the FIR, DNA (event management firm), RCB and KSCA have been named. In truth, accused No 1 is the chief minister himself, accused No 2 is deputy CM and accused No 3 is home minister G Parameshwara. Their sheer carelessness and negligence led to this tragedy. Despite deaths, Siddaramaiah went to a hotel to eat dosa, while Shivakumar participated in the victory celebration at the stadium. This is so insensitive.”Opposition leader R Ashoka said: “The CM wants to hit a century by completing his full five-term, while the DCM wants to run him out. But, in the process, people of Karnataka have been out hit wicket.”Kumaraswamy demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge and said BJP would consider pushing for a special legislature session.Amid the growing backlash, Siddaramaiah defended the govt’s response. “They (opposition) are indulging in politics. I don’t want to politicise this. We penalised those who were visibly responsible and found to be negligent in their duty,” he said.Shivakumar said: “Let them (BJP) demand (my resignation). They are trying to politicise the issue over dead bodies. My chief minister was kind enough to announce a judicial inquiry. Action has been taken against some. An investigation is underway. The case has been handed over to the CID. What more can the govt do?”