Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai is calling for a CBI probe into the deadly Karur rally stampede that claimed 40 lives, pointing fingers at major slip-ups by state police and local officials.
After visiting grieving families in Chennai on Sunday, Annamalai stressed that better planning and more security could have stopped the tragedy. “This isn’t TVK chief Vijay’s fault,” he told reporters. “State police and intelligence should have seen the huge crowd coming and sent enough officers. Why approve a seven-hour event? Two hours would have done the job.”
He slammed the state government’s plan for a one-man inquiry commission led by a judge close to Chief Minister MK Stalin, calling it unfair. Annamalai highlighted the venue’s flaws—too small for big crowds, with space for under 5,000 people and tight exits that turned deadly.
Police boasted of deploying 500 officers, but Annamalai said he saw fewer than 100 on site. “Local administration dropped the ball completely,” he added. “The DMK government needs to own up to this total failure in intelligence and staffing.”
The Karur BJP unit stepped up with Rs 1 lakh aid for each victim’s family. Annamalai also had words for actor-turned-politician Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party: Plan future public meetings more carefully. “Weekend rallies draw families with kids—why did children die? The event’s setup was all wrong. Vijay needs to show up and own the fallout.”
Tamil Nadu’s Additional Director General of Police for law and order, S. Davidson Devasirvatham, pushed back on claims of an intelligence failure. He explained that police turned down TVK’s first venue picks over safety worries but greenlit the spot after it hosted past events with up to 15,000 people without issues.
“There were enough streetlights and security setups,” Devasirvatham said. “Crowd rules got broken in spots, so we’ve filed a case. The probe will sort out who’s to blame.”
The chaos erupted Saturday evening at the Karur political rally, where thousands of Vijay supporters waited hours in the heat for him to arrive. Panic spread, leading to a stampede that left many fainting and others crushed in the crush.
Victims’ families are now demanding real accountability and tougher crowd safety rules for all political events in Tamil Nadu to prevent another Karur rally stampede disaster.
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