New Delhi: ‘You did everything and blamed us for Karur tragedy’: TVK's Vijay attacks Tamil Nadu CM Stalin
Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazagham (TVK) chief Vijay on Monday attacked Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin over last year’s Karur stampede incident at a TVK rally, and took jibes at the CM’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party ahead of the state elections due later this year.
More than 40 people died and about 100 were injured when a stampede broke out at Vijay’s TVK rally in Karur last year in September. The incident happened when the crowd pushed forward to meet him, leading to several deaths.
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Speaking at a meeting of party functionaries in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, Vijay referred to Stalin’s “remark” that he had no political enemies and that everyone was his friend. He questioned the chief minister for “blaming” him for the stampede incident.
“When asked about political enemies, Stalin sir said all are my friends. If we are friends, why did you blame me in the Karur (stampede) incident,” he said.
“Why refuse venue and permission for TVK (rallies and events), if we are friends…you did everything and blamed us for Karur tragedy,” he added.
The TVK chief alleged Stalin’s real friends were “bribes, corruption, and eyeing political gains.”
He also accused the chief minister of giving false assurances to the public and challenged the ruling party’s claim that it had turned Tamil Nadu into a “superstar state”.
Vijay, who has been stepping up criticism of the DMK and Stalin in particular, challenged the chief minister to reveal his assets and disclose his financial position from before he entered politics.
“What was the source? Was it your hard-earned money or was it amassed after you came to power? Can you declare it openly?” the actor asked the CM, adding that if he spoke about corruption, then corrupt elements would “fling mud on us.”
The assembly election is “a war between Vijay and Stalin,” he said, repeating his claim that TVK is a “pure force” and again calling the DMK an “evil force”.
Soon after the incident in September, DMK MP A Raja reacted to Vijay leaving Karur after the stampede and said that “fleeing means someone has a guilty conscience”.
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