Karur stampede: BJP delegation meets kin of victims; TVK Chief Vijay expresses condolences, says "truth will come out"

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India ], September 30 (ANI): Following the stampede in Tamil Nadu's Karur, which claimed the lives of atleast 41 people at a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally, actor and party's chief Vijay on Tuesday said that the "truth will come out soon" over the incident. However, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have maintained the actor's culpability for the loss of lives.
Two of TVK's functionaries, Mathiyazhagan, the party's Karur West District Secretary and MC Paun Raj, the Karur town functionary, have been arrested and sent to judicial custody till October 14.
Multiple political parties, including leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, reached Karur to meet the kin of the deceased, offering condolences and help to the injured.
The BJP delegation, led by MP Hema Malini, visited the site of the incident. Congress's KC Venugopal also visited the families of the deceased, announcing that the party has given Rs 1.25 crore to the affected families.
In his first public reaction after the stampede, the TVK chief said that he has "never faced such a painful situation in his life".
"People come to see me in this campaign, the only reason behind it is love and affection. In my life, I have never experienced such pain. I will soon meet the victims," he said.
While addressing Chief Minister MK Stalin, he said, "Chief Minister sir, I request you please do not harm my party functionaries. I will be available at my house or in my office and you can take any action against me, but not against them".
The DMK, however, has maintained that TVK's Vijay is fully responsible for the stampede, with the BJP also echoing similar sentiments, saying that Vijay "should not have invited so many people if he knows he is popular".
The DMK spokesperson, TKS Elangovan, said that the incident occurred because of a leader "who wanted to become Chief Minister" but "was unable to arrive on time at the rally."
Speaking to ANI, TKS Elangovan said, "The reason for deaths is Vijay (TVK chief). When someone is made to wait in scorching heat for 6-8 hours, then what will happen? If the ambulances had been allowed inside, some people could have been saved. People ran over the children who had fainted. This happened only because of a leader who wanted to become the CM but was unable to arrive at the rally on time."
The DMK leader criticised Vijay over his statement, saying, "In his statement, he says, 'Don't take revenge from me'... What revenge is he talking about? Why did he come at 8 pm when he was scheduled to speak at noon?"
Tamil Nadu government designated spokesperson and IAS P Amudha on Tuesday expressed grief over the unfortunate Karur stampede incident that claimed the lives of 41 people, and said that over 25,000 people gathered at the Uzhavar Sandhai ground, where Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay's rally was held, even though permission was sought for 10,000 participants only.
BJP MP Hema Malini, while addressing a press conference in Karur, also blamed the administration for the "unfortunate" incident.
"Our delegation has come from various place to come and witness on what happened that day...It is such a horrible and the biggest stampede. It had never happened in the history of politics...Political rallies are done in a very proper manner and it is made sure that the people present are comfortable... Administration should have taken care of that, they failed to do it," she said.
MP Anurag Thakur, also a part of the delegation, demanded a free and fair investigation, while also questioning the work of the Intelligence Department and the steps taken by the police officials on the day of the incident.
"Though there were 3-4 hospitals in the surrounding areas, the injured were not taken there. They were brought here and it took much more time. We have prepared a list of questions to ask them...The truth is that the common people have lost their lives...Who is responsible? There should be a free and fair probe into this. We feel that a sitting Supreme Court judge must look into this and there should be a free and fair probe by the sitting SC judge and let the truth come out," Thakur said.
The delegation also included MPs Tejasvi Surya, Braj Lal, Aprajita Sarangi, Rekha Sharma, and Shrikant Shinde from the Shiv Sena, as well as Putta Mahesh Kumar from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
On the other hand, Congress' KC Venugopal met the kin of the deceased, and said that he is only here to support the families instead of indulging in politics.
"We don't want to do any politics, and we are here to support the affected families... We will give maximum help in their future endeavours," he said.
The party has also given Rs 1.25 crore to the family of the deceased.
"This is a huge tragedy, and I was deployed by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to meet the bereaved families and injured... Congress has given Rs 1.25 crores for the deceased families. I request the PCC President to look after the injured people," Venugopal told reporters.
Meanwhile, earlier today, Tamil Maanila Congress General Secretary, AS Munavar Basha, demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister Stalin and the arrest of the District Collector, IG and SP. He stated that most of the political parties in Tamil Nadu were requesting a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Speaking to ANI, Basha said, "I don't know why such a small place was given for a rally of Vijay. Most of the political parties in Tamil Nadu will ask for a CBI inquiry into the incident. The incident has affected him, which is why he has not come before you all yet. Most of the people expect him to go and see the injured victims and meet the families of the deceased. The District Collector, IG and SP need to be arrested. The police gave permission for this gathering."
TVK's lawyer, Manikandan, has also said that the party had followed all conditions imposed by the police and had taken necessary precautions. He argued that controlling the crowd was the responsibility of the police, who had the authority and intelligence to manage large gatherings.
He also highlighted that the party had previously organised numerous meetings and campaigns without any issues in the past, but the situation in Karur went out of control due to an unexpected surge in the crowd.
Speaking to ANI, lawyer Manikandan said, "...We have argued that the Police have the authority, they have an Intelligence. We had already organised many meetings and political campaigns, even at the state and zonal levels. But, here in Karur district, we had given a letter and followed all the conditions imposed by the Police."
"An FIR has been filed against three people - Karur District Secretary and another two people. On behalf of TVK, we have contested that the permission was asked according to the law and the meeting was conducted according to the law. Everything happened to the law. But the Police failed to give sufficient force to the assembly. We had given our letter for 10,000 people," he said.
The Karur stampede had claimed the lives of atleast 41 people, with more than 100 people injured. The incident took place at Velusamypuram, at the Karur-Erode Highway after a large crowd gathered for the political rally. Reportedly, Vijay's arrival was delayed by several hours. (ANI)