Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, launched a sharp attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, accusing him of politicizing the Karur stampede tragedy in which 41 people lost their lives. Addressing the TVK’s special general council meeting at a private resort in Mamallapuram, Vijay alleged that Stalin’s remarks in the Assembly on 15 October 2025 were “filled with political hostility,” and vowed that the 2026 Assembly elections would be a direct contest between the DMK and TVK.
The party’s general council unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming that it would contest the 2026 elections under Vijay’s leadership and authorised him to take all decisions regarding electoral alliances – a move that comes amid speculation about possible overtures from the AIADMK-BJP combine following the Karur tragedy.
The TVK leader said he and his party had been in deep grief over the stampede deaths. ‘That is why I have maintained silence all these days,’ he said. ‘But during this time, several malicious political campaigns and baseless rumours have been spread about us. All these will be wiped out with the help of truth and justice,’ he said.
Vijay accused the Chief Minister of making “false allegations while claiming not to politicise the tragedy.” He said, “His speech in the Assembly was filled with bitterness and political animosity.” The TVK chief alleged that his party had faced systemic obstruction while organising public meetings. “Whenever we proposed venues where people could gather comfortably, the requests were rejected, and cramped locations were allotted instead,” he said.
According to Vijay, “no political leader in India had faced such excessive restrictions.” He also questioned whether the Chief Minister had forgotten the Supreme Court’s strong observations against the state government over the Karur incident. “After the Karur incident, the State government hurriedly announced a one-member commission of inquiry. Soon after, senior officials and police officers held a press conference spreading misinformation about us. People across Tamil Nadu wondered why such media briefings were held,” he said.
Vijay alleged that Stalin was driven purely by political motives. “This is nothing new for him and his party. Since 1972, when no one was left to question the DMK leadership, this has been their approach. The people’s faith in this government has been buried. If the Chief Minister still fails to see this, the people will make him and the DMK leadership realise it deeply in the 2026 elections,” he warned.
This was Vijay’s first public address in nearly 38 days since the Karur tragedy. In a private meeting on October 27, he had met family members of the victims at the same venue.
The TVK general council also passed 12 resolutions, including one condemning the state government for rising crimes against women and the deteriorating law and order situation, and another condoling the deaths in Karur. Other resolutions criticised both the BJP-led Union government and the DMK for failing to prevent repeated arrests of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities. The council opposed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, condemned delays in procuring Kuruvai paddy in the Cauvery delta, urged the protection of the Pallikaranai marshland, and demanded a white paper on investments and employment generation since the DMK assumed power in 2021.
The meeting concluded with a two-minute silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the Karur stampede.
(Source: The Hindu)
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