The ruling dispensation in Tamil Nadu has many affiliates working in different media houses. One among the many is Lakshmi Subramanian of The Week.
When the news of the Karur stampede broke, instead of doing what a journalist must do – report the truth, Lakshmi resorted to peddling fake news.
In a post on X that she has not deleted yet, she shared a screenshot of Vijay smiling inside his caravan at his supporters and captioned it, “This one picture has many stories to say. The smile and the expression gives too many interpretations”
She posted this image on 28 September 2025, a day after the stampede occurred. Despite being fact-checked in the Community notes section that the image/video was from a rally in Perambalur when the staff switched on and off the light inside the caravan and Vijay was enjoying his fans’ reaction, she has not deleted the post at the time of publishing this report.
When she was called out, she defended herself saying, “I never mentioned that this is from Karur or Perambalur or Trichy or elsewhere. The community note is actually misleading. I cannot be held responsible or questioned for anyone attributing it to any context.”
At a time of such a tragedy, instead of reporting facts, when a mainstream journalist makes such a post buttressing the ruling DMK, the credibility of both her and the national magazine like The Week where she works, comes to naught.
Lakshmi Subramanian is said to be working at The Week for over a decade – 13 years as per her LinkedIn profile.
It is alleged that she was a part of the entourage that went to Germany and London with chief minister MK Stalin recently.
However, she refuted these claims saying, “To those who say that I have been to Germany or London or Europe along with Tamil Nadu CM’s entourage last month : Do check your facts before you talk/write. I have never been to Germany or London or Europe in my entire lifetime. Opinions are free, but facts are sacred. Sharing my latest articles from Sri Lanka. Read here:
https://theweek.in/theweek/cover/2025/09/27/sri-lanka-economic-recovery-anura-dissanayake-sri-lanka-stability.html
https://theweek.in/theweek/cover/2025/09/27/what-ranil-wickremesinghes-arrest-means-for-sri-lankan-democracy.html
https://theweek.in/theweek/cover/2025/09/27/we-need-more-investment-for-lasting-growth-anil-jayantha-fernando.html”
https://t.co/rJ5EJW7j4x pic.twitter.com/dtVew3LDqc
— Bjorn Ironside (@Im_PeakyBlinder) October 1, 2025
A Quick Look At Her Past
Lakshmi Subramanian has indulged in spreading misinformation about the RBI’s 25-basis-point repo rate hike in February 2023. She posted that home loan interest rates were 11% and implied this would harm people’s lives, despite many banks offering loans at much lower rates. Critics said her post emotionally targeted citizens and diverted attention from the DMK government’s rate hike impact on Tamil Nadu’s textile industry.
During a press meet in Coimbatore in October 2022, journalists Shabbir Ahmed (TNM) and Lakshmi Subramanian questioned the then BJP Tamil Nadu President Annamalai over a previous remark in which he compared aggressive media behavior to monkeys. Annamalai defended himself, refused to apologize, and criticized what he called agenda-driven reporting by certain media, highlighting inconsistencies in how the media treated DMK leaders versus BJP leaders.
In February 2022, after a petrol bomb attack on the BJP office in T. Nagar, Chennai, Lakshmi Subramanian posted in Tamil, calling the location “not even worthy of bombings, idiots.” The tweet was widely criticized for appearing to justify attacks based on the site’s perceived importance. She later deleted the post following public backlash, which highlighted the potential irresponsibility of her commentary.
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