Chennai, Oct 15 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday said that the Karur stampede, which claimed several lives, had "deeply shocked the people of the state", and attributed the tragedy to poor crowd management and a long delay in the arrival of actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay.
Expressing condolences to the victims’ families, the Chief Minister told the Assembly that the event was allowed under 11 specific conditions and was provided more security than normal political meetings.
However, he noted that organisers had failed to arrange basic amenities such as drinking water, food and toilets for the large crowd that had gathered hours before the programme began.
According to Stalin, the tragedy unfolded after a seven-hour delay in Vijay’s arrival and the crowd’s sudden surge towards the stage.
"The meeting was permitted at the organisers’ request, and security arrangements were made with 606 police personnel and officials. But the organisers ignored repeated police warnings and insisted on holding it only at the approved venue," he said.
Stalin said that although ambulances were quickly deployed to rescue the injured, some vehicles were attacked by agitated party workers, hampering relief operations.
He pointed out that just two days earlier, an AIADMK meeting at the same venue had concluded peacefully under similar conditions, underlining that the Karur rally’s chaos was avoidable.
The Chief Minister said post-mortem examinations were conducted the same night to enable quick handover of bodies to the bereaved families.
"Political parties must act responsibly and ensure safety norms are followed at all gatherings. The government has handled the situation in accordance with the law and will abide by the Supreme Court’s final verdict," Stalin said, appealing for collective responsibility to prevent such tragedies in future.
Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami, however, blamed the state government for the incident, saying the tragedy could have been prevented if proper security had been provided. Heated arguments followed after he sought the deletion of certain remarks from the Assembly records. Speaker M. Appavu cautioned that action would be taken if disruptions continued.
Soon after, AIADMK MLAs staged a sit-in protest and later walked out of the House.
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