TIRUPPUR: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday accused Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay of failing to meet the families of those killed in the Karur stampede and alleged that he did not step out of his Panaiyur residence for 72 days after the incident.
Palaniswami said Vijay had neither paid tribute to the victims nor met those injured in the incident. “On this day last year, 41 people lost their lives in Karur. After the incident, Vijay did not step out of his Panaiyur house for 72 days.
He did not offer condolences to his own party cadre. Instead of visiting the families of the deceased, he invited them to Chennai to offer his condolences. Apart from TVK, all other parties paid their respects in person to the victims,” he said.
Campaigning in Dharapuram for AIADMK candidate K Banumathi, Palaniswami also criticised TVK candidate P Sathyabama, who quit AIADMK and joined TVK, and urged voters to defeat her in the by-election.
“We must teach a fitting lesson to the traitor who won and moved towards TVK. She sold the votes of the people who had trusted her.”
Calling the Dharapuram by-poll a result of “horse-trading” and a “democratic assassination”, Palaniswami alleged that Sathyabama had betrayed voters who elected her on an AIADMK ticket.
He also accused Vijay of attempting to protect his government through “horse-trading”. Questioning the need for a new secretariat while TN is struggling with debt, he said, “Vijay is willing to live in luxury and he is a costly CM.”