Vijay recalls Karura dash, accuses police of 'staging drama': 'Meeting should have been cancelled'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay on Friday recalled the painful memories of the 2025 Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives, saying “no amount of success can erase the pain of the loss of innocent lives”.

Vijay was addressing a large gathering at Atlas Ground in Karur, where he also distributed appointment orders to 32 families affected by the stampede that took place during last year’s TVK rally.

The actor-turned-politician accused the police of misleading him on the day of the rally, claiming they were “staging drama” during the incident.

“No matter how high a person reaches in life, certain pains and wounds in the heart cannot be forgotten. More than anything else, the pain and hurt of the Karur incident affected me the most,” Vijay said.

“The police could cancel the meeting”

He claimed that though the police had earlier urged him to cancel the program in Perambalur due to crowd-related concerns, they had not issued a similar advisory before the Karur event, even though it also attracted a large crowd.

“Couldn’t the Karur police have alerted us after the Namakkal meeting when we were going to Karur? They could have canceled the meeting if they felt the crowd was uncontrollable. They had every right to do so. Instead, they brought us to the venue. I trusted them completely and even thanked the police that day. I never imagined such a tragedy would happen,” said Vijay.

Questioning the course of events, Vijay asked, “Who is responsible for all this? Who gave the orders? I ask you people, was adequate police protection provided for such a huge crowd?”

A memorial to the victims was announced

Vijay announced that TVK would build a memorial in Karur to honor those who lost their lives. He said the memorial would help future generations remember the incident and prevent similar tragedies from being politicized.

He said the proposed memorial would also serve as a reminder to future generations of what he described as a conspiracy against his party. He added, “To make the coming generation aware of the conspiracies and conspiracies against us, so that no one even thinks of another political conspiracy, we announce that a memorial will be built in Karuru in the name of our TVK.”

Vijay also criticized the DMK, alleging that the previous government was involved in corruption and political vendettas. He called on voters to support his party in the upcoming by-elections and urged them to reject what he described as “evil forces”.

Vijay’s visit marked his first official trip to Karuru since taking over as chief minister in May.

During the programme, he met the families of those killed in the stampede at the TVK rally on 27 September 2025 and expressed his condolences.

The Chief Minister was welcomed on the dais by Ministers of State Rajmohan and Vijayalakshmi.