Chikkaballapur (Karnataka) [India], June 11 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that he himself had invited Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot to the RCB players' felicitation ceremony at Vidhan Soudha.
Addressing a press conference near Gauribidanur, CM Siddaramaiah said, "I had invited the Governor to the felicitation ceremony of RCB players held at Vidhan Soudha."
"The Governor did not come on his own; he was invited," he said.
The Karnataka CM further said that on June 4, the Karnataka Cricket Association and RCB organised a felicitation program for the players.
"Shankar and Jayaram from the KSCA invited me at 11.29 am that morning and requested me. I agreed to this," Siddaramaiah said.
The CM said it was wrong that newspapers and the media spread the news that the Governor had come on his own.
"Govindaraju, who was the Chief Minister's political secretary, called the Governor and gave me the phone. I was also attending the program and invited him to come. The Governor also arrived at the program. The felicitation program was over in 20 minutes," CM Siddaramaiah said.
This contradicts Siddaramaiah's earlier statement that the Karnataka State Cricket Association had invited the Governor.
Earlier today, the Karnataka High Court reserved the order on the petition filed by RCB's marketing head Nikhil Sosale, seeking interim relief on the ground that his arrest in alleged connection with the Bengaluru stampede was illegal.
The High Court reserved the order for June 12 at 2:30 pm.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team was officially felicitated by the Karnataka government on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha (State Assembly) on June 4, before the stampede incident occurred at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Following the Bengaluru stampede that claimed 11 lives and left many injured, the Karnataka Government on June 5 suspended top police officials at the Cubbon Park Police Station and formed a one-man commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe the incident.