Chennai, Oct 6: AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) on Monday held the DMK government squarely responsible for the tragic stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Karur on September 27, which claimed 41 lives and left over 60 injured.
In a sharply worded statement, EPS alleged that the disaster was the result of “administrative failure and political negligence.” Citing eyewitness accounts and media reports, he said the tragedy could have been avoided if the state government had ensured proper crowd management and safety measures.
“The government failed to take precautions or handle the event responsibly. Basic safety protocols were ignored,” he said, questioning why power backup, crowd control plans, and medical arrangements were missing despite the massive turnout.
Palaniswami also raised serious concerns about police preparedness and response. “Why did the police remain inactive from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. as the crowd kept swelling? Who instructed them not to intervene?” he asked, pointing to inconsistencies in the official narrative.
He criticised ADGP (Law & Order) S. Davidson Devasirvatham’s claim that one police officer was deployed for every 20 attendees, saying that visual evidence contradicted the assertion. “The ADGP first claimed 500 personnel were on duty but later evaded giving exact numbers,” EPS noted.
Accusing the DMK government of attempting to deflect responsibility, Palaniswami demanded it accept moral and administrative accountability. “These are not rumours but the voices of survivors and eyewitnesses. Forty-one people lost their lives not due to fate but to official apathy,” he said, calling for a transparent and independent probe into the lapses that led to the deadly incident.
