Palaniswami blames State government for security lapses leading to Karur stampede

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday accused the Tamil Nadu government of failing to take preventive measures to avert the tragic incident in Karur on September 27 during a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay, in which 41 people died in a crowd crush.

Speaking on a special calling attention motion in the Assembly, Mr. Palaniswami said, “The TVK leader had addressed campaign meetings in four districts prior to Karur. Were the government and the State intelligence unaware of the crowd strength at those meetings? Had adequate security been provided, the tragic Karur incident could have been avoided. The government failed to take precautionary steps,” he charged.

He said when his party had sought permission to organise a public meeting to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran at the same venue in Karur in January 2025, the police had refused to allow it, speciiying the reason that the locality was in a narrow area and an important road connecting neighbouring towns. “If that was the case, how was permission granted for this meeting at the same spot?” he asked, adding that people suspected there was some “ulterior motive” behind the incident.

Objecting to his remarks, Mr. Stalin said Mr. Palaniswami was politicising the issue and attempting to attract parties to his alliance. Following this, both the DMK and the AIADMK MLAs stood up and engaged in heated exchanges.

Mr. Palaniswami further questioned why permission had not been given for meetings in the roundabout area near the Karur bus stand, where several political events had been held earlier. “Why did the State government show such haste in conducting post-mortem examinations and handing over the bodies of victims to their families? When it normally takes about one and a half hours for a post-mortem, how did doctors at the Karur Government Medical College Hospital complete the examinations so quickly with only three forensic experts?” he asked.

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian intervened and said the postmortems were carried out late at night with special permission from the District Collector, and 22 additional forensic experts from nearby districts were mobilised. The examinations began at 1.45 a.m. on September 28 and continued for nearly 14 hours, he said.

The AIADMK leader also questioned why senior officials of the government and the police were addressing the media even after the constitution of the commission of inquiry. In his response, the Chief Minister said, “Many rumours had been circulated on social media about the incident. The officials issued clarifications only in their official capacity to put an end to such rumours.”

The AIADMK MLAs participated in the Assembly proceedings wearing black badges.