AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, launched a strong attack on the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday. He asserted that the government failed to implement adequate preventative measures, which ultimately contributed to the tragic crowd crush in Karur on September 27. The incident occurred during a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay, resulting in the deaths of 41 individuals.
During a special calling attention motion in the Assembly, Mr. Palaniswami questioned the government’s intelligence capabilities. “The TVK leader had already held campaign meetings in four other districts before coming to Karur. Were the government and State intelligence truly unaware of the immense crowd strength at these events? If proper security arrangements had been made, this tragic Karur incident could have been entirely avoided. The government clearly fell short in taking necessary precautionary steps,” he charged.
He further highlighted a perceived inconsistency in police permissions. Mr. Palaniswami noted that his own party had been denied permission to hold a public meeting celebrating former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran’s birth anniversary at the exact same Karur venue in January 2025. The police had cited the area’s narrowness and its strategic location connecting neighboring towns as reasons for denial. “Given that, how was permission subsequently granted for this particular meeting at the very same spot?” he questioned, suggesting that the public suspects an “ulterior motive” behind the incident.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin immediately objected to these remarks, accusing Mr. Palaniswami of “politicising” a sensitive issue and attempting to draw other parties into his alliance. This retort led to a session of heated exchanges between MLAs from both the DMK and AIADMK.
The AIADMK leader pressed on, querying why permissions were denied for gatherings near the Karur bus stand roundabout, an area historically used for numerous political events. He also raised concerns about the swiftness of post-mortem examinations: “When a post-mortem typically takes around one and a half hours, how did doctors at the Karur Government Medical College Hospital complete examinations so rapidly with just three forensic experts?”
Health Minister Ma. Subramanian intervened to clarify that the post-mortems were conducted late at night with special permission from the District Collector. He stated that 22 additional forensic experts from nearby districts were swiftly mobilized. The examinations commenced at 1:45 a.m. on September 28 and continued for nearly 14 hours, ensuring thoroughness despite the urgent circumstances.
Mr. Palaniswami also questioned why senior government and police officials were addressing the media even after a commission of inquiry had been established. Chief Minister Stalin responded by explaining, “Numerous rumors had been circulating on social media regarding the incident. Officials provided clarifications solely in their official capacity to dispel these rumors and ensure public peace.”
The AIADMK MLAs collectively demonstrated their protest by participating in the Assembly proceedings while wearing black badges.