AIADMK stages walkout alleging bias, singles out State govt. for deaths in Karur stampede

AIADMK general secretary and Opposition leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami staged a walkout during the discussion on the Karur stampede after levelling allegations of bias against Speaker M. Appavu and briefly taking part in a sit-in with other AIADMK MLAs in the well of the House on Wednesday (October 15).

Mr. Palaniswami walked out of the House despite the Chief Minister, the Speaker, and senior Minister Duraimurugan assuring the AIADMK MLAs that their objections, and their demand that certain comments made by Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar be expunged, would be taken into consideration.

After the walkout, Mr. Stalin said he had spoken in detail about the Karur tragedy and the steps taken by the State government after the Opposition leader and other members gave a notice under Rule 56.

“I thank those who made constructive suggestions. Since they cannot find any fault with the steps taken by the State government, they have caused a disturbance to the proceedings of the House and staged a walkout. We will definitely consider those constructive suggestions,” he said.

He suggested that electoral alliance considerations could be the reason why Mr. Palaniswami was raising this issue, and added that the alliance would not fructify.

Addressing the media outside the Assembly, Mr. Palaniswami singled out the State government for blame over the deaths, and said the Chief Minister’s response was not adequate. “We moved an adjournment motion on the Karur incident. Instead of allowing the main Opposition party to explain its position first, the Speaker permitted the Chief Minister to speak. We still respected the Chair and heard him out, but his statement lacked facts and accountability,” he said.

He said that the Karur incident could have been prevented had State government ensured adequate police protection. “Vijay has held meetings in four districts earlier. The police and intelligence knew the crowd strength. Yet, they allowed a public meeting in Veluchamipuram, which had already been deemed unsafe. The same place that was denied to AIADMK citing narrow roads was later given to TVK. This shows a deliberate and negligent attitude,” he said.

“The government hastily announced a one-man commission, hurried through all the autopsies. The Karur government hospital is said to have only two tables for conducting post-mortem procedures. Even if there were three tables, how were 39 autopsies completed in such a hurry, given that each procedure lasts at least an hour and a half? This created serious doubts about the government’s motives. It’s all a drama to hide the truth,” he charged.