KARUR: The scars of the Karur tragedy refuse to fade even after six months. The heart-wrenching cries of those helplessly crushed in the stampede still linger in the public’s collective conscience.
Many are still deeply grief-stricken. V Vimal, of Velusamypuram, who lost his two-year-old son V Guruvishnu, is yet to recover from the shock. His niece, 13-year-old P Mathumitha who was injured in the stampede, died at a Tiruchy hospital nearly a week later, on November 2.
But many have moved on.
S Santhosh, a medical representative in Salem who lost his friend M Akash, a resident of Kamarajapuram, to the stampede, said, “A large number of youth continue to love and follow Vijay.” The magnetic pull of a superstar that leaves many political observers and pollsters nervous.
TVK’s Karur west district secretary VP Mathiyazhagan, who is likely to be fielded in the constituency, exudes confidence. “The incident was indeed unfortunate. Yet, people of Karur still stand in support of their leader.”
The two major alliances led by the DMK and the AIADMK, however, ignore the ‘Vijay factor’. While DMK strongman V Senthil Balaji is likely to be fielded, the AIADMK has already named MR Vijayabhaskar.
Two former ministers and towering personalities, who are known to Karur for ages, ensure a tough fight in Karur.
Some voters believe that due to several ups and downs in his career this time, Senthil Balaji was unable to concentrate on his constituency during his last tenure.
“He did nothing much till April 2025, when he lost his ministerial post for the second time. Only after losing it did he turn his focus towards Karur,” says S Thangaraj, a worker from the textile industry and a resident of Karur.
Two-time minister Senthil Balaji, who has served under both the AIADMK and the DMK back-to-back, is confident of securing victory once again. He cites various welfare measures executed by the DMK government and infra projects, including new bus stand, UGD in the city, Sipcot, and a few others worth `5,100 crore implemented in the district.
Vijayabhaskar, former Karur MLA, is posing a tough fight. “When compared to our late leader J Jayalalithaa’s populist schemes like ‘Thalikku Thangam’, girl child protection scheme, free laptop, and free scooter, the DMK’s so-called women-centric schemes are nothing significant. The main concern among the women is the lack of safety and security for women and girl children, not freebies,” Vijayabhaskar told TNIE.
Senthil Balaji, who was elected from Karur in the 2006 and 2011 Assembly polls for the AIADMK and fielded for the DMK in 2021, was arrested by the ED on June 14, 2023, in an alleged cash-for-job scam and lost his post as minister for electricity and excise. After 471 days in custody, he was granted bail in September 2024. Though he took charge as minister immediately, a subsequent court order forced him to resign from the post in April 2025.
Plagued by corruption allegations from the opposition, conspiracy theories surrounding the stampede at a TVK rally, growing anti-incumbency sentiment, and accusations of attempting to bribe voters, Senthil Balaji faces a litmus test. He banks on welfare schemes and a strong alliance, cash assistance including Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai (KMUT), and initiatives like free bus travel for women.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, highlight “governance failure” and law and order issues, the prevalence of drugs, and allegations of sand mining and stone quarrying in particular.
Spanning 48 wards of the Karur corporation, town panchayats and numerous village panchayats, the constituency is a true microcosm of Tamil Nadu, representing people from all walks of life and diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The district primarily depends on the production and export of handloom products, textiles, and mosquito nets for its livelihood.
Bus body manufacturing shops and finance business ventures are common as well.
Meanwhile, the illegal sand mining remains a vexed issue in Karur, particularly along the stretches of the Cauvery and Amaravathi rivers.
Activist RS Mugilan accuses the successive governments of turning a blind eye towards illegal sand mining for many years.
“But the leaders have turned the issue into a political battleground to escape from criticism,” he says.