CHENNAI: TVK campaign general secretary Aadhav Arjuna said the party’s biggest mistake was trusting the police and not knowing “conspiracy” politics while referring to the events that led to the Karur stampede.
He said that unlike in other districts, their entry into Karur was met with an ‘unusual welcome’ from the police. “They escorted us for 2km, stopped our bus at the said spot and asked our leader to speak.
Our leader, who doesn’t know conspiracy politics, thanked the police. If hatching conspiracies is experienced politics, we prefer to remain truthful to the people,” he said.
Arjuna alleged that after Vijay left the Karur venue, police resorted to a continuous lathi charge on people carrying TVK flags. He said TVK had sought permission for the Karur meeting eight days in advance and chose Lighthouse Roundana, but police forced the meeting to be conducted at Velusamypuram.
He further alleged that inadequate police presence was deliberate “so that if anything happened, they could do politics with it and destroy our party.”
Explaining why Vijay met victims in Mahabalipuram instead of Karur, he said police allotted a distant, unsuitable marriage hall.