Karur Stampede: How star power, poor planning and politics turned deadly in Karur at Vijay’s rally

So, when actors turn politicians, they have to change character. Some make the transition successfully, others struggle.

Film stars are social recluses, both by choice and necessity. They prefer to live within their own self-enclosed community, trapped as they are in the make-believe world; they also command a premium for real-world appearances only because their celebrity status is maintained by minimal direct interaction with the general population. In this, they are the polar opposite of politicians, who thrive by being in the midst of people.

So, when actors turn politicians, they have to change character. Some make the transition successfully, others struggle.

Tamil filmdom's megastar, Vijay, with his newly launched party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), is yet to make this transition. He lays great store by his celebrity status, carefully curating his public appearances for maximum impact.

A crowd-surge to see the film star-turned-politician was not new. But what led to the death of 40 people and over 80 injured, is the choice of venue and underestimation of the crowd expected to attend the public meeting in Karur. Add to this his delayed arrival at the venue and poor organisation of amenities, the stage was set for a tragedy of mammoth proportions.

Given that the Assembly election is expected in a few months from now in Tamil Nadu, the tragedy is getting entangled in a political blame game.

The leader of the opposition in the Assembly and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami charged the DMK government with security lapse and power outage during the public rally at the venue, Velusamypuram, the exact spot where he himself held a public rally on September 25. The BJP state president Nainar Nagendran sought an investigation by the Supreme Court to supersede the commission headed by retired judge of Madras High Court Aruna Jagadeesan appointed by Chief Minister MK Stalin. Some of the TVK party workers claimed that the stampede was due to deliberate poor crowd management by the police. The centre has sought a detailed report on the stampede from the Tamil Nadu government.

The DMK stonewalled the allegations saying that it would not involve in politicising the tragedy and would instead wait for the report of Justice Aruna Jagadeesan commission. The commission is to investigate if police underestimated the magnitude of the rally or if Vijay‘s late arrival was a tactic to increase the crowd. (Justice Aruna Jagadeesan had earlier probed the Thoothukudi police firing of 2018.)

The Karur Town Police Inspector has filled a case against the TVK general secretary N. Anand alias ‘Bussy’ Anand, second in command in the party. A case has also been filled against Karur district secretary Mathiazhagan and TVK joint general secretary Nirmal Kumar. Cases were registered under BNS sections 109 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 125 (b) (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) read with section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act.

Late on Saturday night the state Director General of Police G Venkataraman said at a presser that a seven-hour delay in Vijay’s arrival at the public rally led to the crowd-surge. While the TVK organisers gave an estimate of 10,000, about 27,000 people arrived. But according to the estimate given 500 personnel were deployed. In previous rallies of Vijay the crowd figures were much lower. He also contended that while the TVK announced on its X handle that Vijay would arrive at the venue at noon, permission for the rally was sought between 3 and 10 pm. However, he arrived at 7:40 pm.

TVK had given a choice of four places for the rally. But police rejected permission for them as they were densely populated areas and instead granted permission for Velusamypuram on Karur-Erode Road. The police say they had suggested a more open space, but TVK chose the Velusamypuram spot. TVK allegedly have been repeatedly violating restrictions, especially conducting roadshows to the venue spots, which the courts had earlier banned. Even in Karur, Vijay entered the rally venue with a convoy of hundreds of workers adding to the massive crowd that had already gathered.

Crowds began swelling from 9 am according to locals. There were no food and water arrangements at the venue. Men, women and children gathered to see the popular actor - Thalapathi Vijay, despite the sweltering heat. Some did not go for lunch or water for fear their seats would get occupied. So when Vijay's convoy arrived, in the crowd surge and with no place to move, people began fainting. Some were trampled upon. Vijay stopped his speech and began throwing water bottles towards the crowd and asked for the police to help. He soon left the venue for the airport and took a private flight to Chennai.

Vijay in a social media post expressed his grief saying “no words of comfort can truly ease the pain of losing loved ones.” He announced ₹20 lakh each for families of those who died and ₹2 lakh each for the injured.

Stalin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also announced compensations. But, the tragedy is set to influence the narrative before the election. Much will depend on whether Vijay can make the people believe that the government deliberately created the conditions for the tragedy or whether the DMK can convince voters that Vijay cares more about his image than about the welfare of his supporters.