Vijay claims political vendetta, DMK hits back

BReaking his quiet through and through a picture subject matter trine days after a stampede at his political rally caused 41 deaths, actor and politician Vijay of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) hinted darkly at a conspiracy and targeted Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin even as he glossed over his own immediate exit from the venue and silence for three days.Hours after the clip was released, the Tamil Nadu government held a press conference with the secretaries of the home and health department and senior police officers rebutting Vijay’s allegations.The essence of Vijay’s allegations in a 4 minute 45 second long clip was an insinuation that the state’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) sabotaged his rally. Hinting at a theory that has been aired by his party and denied by the DMK, he asked why the stampede happened in Karur, and why his other rallies had passed without any incidents. TVK leaders have alleged that DMK’s Karur strongman and former minister Senthil Balaji orchestrated the stampede.“We went to at least five districts for our campaign, and no such incident took place in any of those places. How is it that this incident happened only in Karur? The public knows the truth, they are seeing everything,” Vijay said.In response, the state government said that what happened in Karur was not isolated since several people attending other rallies led by Vijay had been hospitalised.Tamil Nadu’s five high ranking bureaucrats and cops –– revenue secretary P Amudha, home secretary Dheeraj Kumar, health secretary P Senthilkumar, DGP G Venkataraman and ADGP (law and order) Davidson Devasirvatham –– defended the measures the state had taken before and in the aftermath of the stampede during a media briefing at the state secretariat.“On the same day [before the stampede] in the Namakkal rally, 34 people were admitted to a hospital due to heatstroke. Four of them were unconscious and have now been discharged,” said Devasirvatham. “In Viluppuram, 42 people were injured; 14 in Madurai; 12 in Tiruchirappalli; six in Ariyalur; 17 in Tiruvarur; five in Nagapattinam; 35 in Namakkal again; and 16 in Karur.”They also released a video and photos compiling how the crowd had swelled to more than twice the anticipated number and that TVK cadre had violated norms by climbing atop rooftops and a tree.The TVK has already approached the Madras high court seeking an independent probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.Vijay also criticised Stalin for arresting some of his party leaders. State police have arrested two TVK leaders in connection with the stampede. On Tuesday, the state cyber crime police also booked TVK’s campaign management general secretary Aadhav Arjuna over a now deleted social media post calling for the state’s youth to “revolt” against the ruling government on the lines of the recent Gen Z protest in Nepal.“Chief minister sir, if you want revenge, you touch me. Don’t touch my leaders. I will be at home or in my office,” he added.Tamil Nadu Police, in its FIR, had said that Vijay’s delayed arrival and TVK leaders not following instructions and warnings had led to the stampede. But, Vijay insisted that he and his party had done nothing wrong. “We went to our designated place. We ensured that we have police permission for these venues. We have people’s safety in mind…Other than that, we did not do anything,” he said.Vijay has been criticised for leaving Karur after the stampede and reaching his Chennai residence the same night, and neither speaking to media nor meeting grieving families even as Stalin, opposition leader Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and scores of political leaders rushed to Karur immediately after the stampede.DMK leader A Raja told news agency PTI that Vijay’s absence meant he was guilty. “Forty one lives were lost. Is it not the duty of a leader to stay there?” Raja asked.Speaking about incident during Tuesday’s media briefing, the high-ranking bureaucrats said that police on the ground had asked for Vijay’s vehicle to stop a few metres away from the designated spot because of the surge in crowd, but organisers didn’t agree and the crowd moved towards his campaign vehicle.Even though TVK had projected a crowd of 10,000 while seeking permission, police estimated a crowd of 20,000 based on Vijay’s previous rallies and deployed 500 cops –– one policeman for every 20 people, higher than the standard of 1:50 ratio, Devasirvatham said. Police had allocated Velusamipuram –– an open road –– as the venue after discussions with the organisers, while six other locations TVK had suggested were denied due to safety concerns.The gathering began swelling from the afternoon though Vijay had arrived around 7.20pm, added Amudha.“As the leader’s large campaign vehicle moved in, the crowd surge and limited space resulted in a stampede-like situation,” the senior IAS officer said. “Organisers of large gatherings are responsible for arranging certain emergency measures such as ambulances. Both the government and private medical support responded quickly once the seriousness of the situation was known.”