Karur: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Friday accused the MK Stalin-led DMK of attempting to gain "political mileage" from the tragic stampede in Karur last year and of preventing him from visiting the district.
During his first visit to Karur since the 2025 stampede that claimed 41 lives, Vijay blamed the police for failing to alert him about the swelling crowd at the TVK event on September 27 last year and for not taking steps to cancel the meeting after the gathering had become unmanageable.
"The police could have alerted us that the crowd was swelling and had become unmanageable. The police had every right to cancel the meeting. Instead of doing so, they escorted us on the highway," Vijay said during his first visit to the district after assuming office as Chief Minister in May.
Vijay was unable to meet the families of the 41 victims in Karur last year. Instead, the affected families were brought to Chennai, where he personally met and consoled them.
Addressing the gathering on Friday, Vijay said, "I trusted the police completely and even thanked them at the meeting. I did not know about the drama. Who is responsible for this? Under whose instructions did all this happen?"
"They tried to gain political mileage out of the tragedy," he said, in an apparent reference to the DMK, which was then in power.
He said the Karur stampede had caused him immense anguish.
"We lost the children of our sisters in the 2025 Karur stampede," he said.
The Chief Minister, dressed in black attire, also announced that his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), would establish a memorial for the victims of the Karur stampede.
Later, Vijay took out a roadshow, with large numbers of people lining both sides of the road. He waved at the crowd and greeted them with folded hands.
