Amid allegations and counter-allegations, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam's (TVK) charges of administrative failure in handling the Karur rally that ended in tragedy after a stampede, which claimed 41 lives.
At a special press briefing, a team of senior bureaucrats and police officers- Additional Chief Secretary Amudha, ADGP Davidson Devasirvatham, DGP in-charge Venkataraman, and the Health Secretary- defended the state's handling of the event, insisting adequate security and medical arrangements were in place. They also used video evidence to bolster their point.
Crowd Estimates And Security Deployment
Officials said the TVK had originally sought smaller venues before the third, larger ground in Karur was cleared. While the party estimated an attendance of around 10,000, the government anticipated up to 20,000 based on Vijay's previous meetings.
"Normally, the standard police deployment ratio is 1:50. For Karur, we ensured a ratio of 1:20, with more than 1,000 policemen deployed, besides additional senior officers," Additional Chief Secretary Amudha said. Officials noted that crowd surges began around 3 pm, hours before Vijay's arrival, with large numbers also joining from the actor's convoy. "The strength of the crowd crossed 25,000 as the evening progressed," she added.
Power Cut Allegations
The government strongly denied TVK's allegation that a power cut triggered panic. "There was uninterrupted power supply from the grid. What failed was a generator hired by the organisers, which stopped after barricades were broken and the crowd snapped the cable feeding focus lights," authorities said. A video was played to show this.
On Lathicharge allegations
Responding to TVK's charge that police resorted to a lathicharge, officials said the force had acted with restraint and that even Vijay himself had publicly thanked the police, stating he could not have reached the venue without their support.
Ambulances And Medical Response
The health secretary said multiple 108 ambulances were on standby at the venue and nearby locations. "Within minutes of the incident, ambulances began shifting victims to Karur Medical College Hospital. Emergency protocols were followed," the official said.
Why Postmortems At Night?
On criticism over conducting postmortems overnight, Amudha said it was done at the insistence of the families to enable immediate release of bodies. "Postmortems began after 7 pm and continued late into the night, so grieving relatives could perform last rites the next morning," she said.
Government's Stand And Legal Fallout
The state maintained that despite meticulous preparations, the crowd turnout far exceeded expectations, and chaos erupted when barricades were breached. "There was no administrative lapse," the officials underlined, stressing that both the police and health departments responded swiftly under extraordinary pressure. Two TVK district secretaries have been arrested, while two other leaders, including second-in-command Bussi Anand, have moved the court seeking anticipatory bail.
PIL in High Court
Meanwhile, actor Vijay's TVK has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Madras High Court seeking a CBI probe into the tragedy and directions to ensure Vijay is not prevented from visiting the families of those who died.
