DHARMAPURI: AIADMK general secretay Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday laid the blame on the DMK government for the Karur tragedy, stating that “the stampede occurred because of the failure of the Tamil Nadu government to provide proper safety and protection to the crowd gathered at the rally”. He was speaking at the ‘Makkalai Kaapom, Tamilagathai Meetpom’ event in Dharmapuri.
“The 41 lives lost in Karur is an unprecedented tragedy, which will never be forgotten,” Palaniswami said, adding that it is the duty of the chief minister to ensure that all party leaders and people participating in any political event remain safe and are protected. So, the government must take responsibility for the Karur incident, the opposition leader said.
“The people are seeking answers from the government. Now, the state has formed a one-man commission of inquiry. We shall wait for its report. When we held a meeting in Karur, we were also not provided the (safe) venue near the Karur bus stand,” said the AIADMK leader. Commenting on the inquiry panel, he said, “It’s for the commission to explain what had happened in Karur. But why are senior IAS officials and police officials trying to justify themselves. This is unacceptable.”
“Had the DMK conducted a meeting, security would have been deployed everywhere, even at vacant places.”
Earlier, the AIADMK leader paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the Karur incident.