RAMANATHAPURAM: Accusing the BJP of playing politics over the recent Karur stampede in which 41 people were killed, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the decision to send a delegation of NDA MPs to Karur is the saffron party’s ploy to “capitalise” on the incident in view of next year’s Assembly election.
He sought to know why a delegation of MPs was sent to Karur so urgently to look into the cause of the stampede when such teams were not sent to inquire about the Manipur riots, Morbi bridge accident in Gujarat, or the Kumbha Mela stampede in Uttar Pradesh. “Of course, there’s no interest or concern. It is a petty act of seeking political gain in view of the 2026 election,” Stalin said at the government function held at Peravoor near Ramanathapuram.
He alleged that the BJP, “which is used to riding on the back of others, is a parasite that survives on the blood of others.” “It is using the Karur stampede to find out who it can bring under its control. Irrespective of the masks that are worn, how many slaves that are conscripted, or who is enlisted afresh, as I said earlier, Tamil Nadu will remain out of control for you,” the DMK president said.
He termed the BJP as a “washing machine” for those seeking to escape accountability for wrongdoings and hit out at the AIADMK for allegedly betraying the state’s interest by forging electoral ties with the BJP. When Tamil Nadu was struck by three major natural disasters, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman neither visited TN nor provided funds to the state.
“But she now immediately rushed to Karur,” he said. “The AIADMK entered into an alliance with the BJP not based on ideology, but only to protect itself from corruption charges. AIADMK leader EPS has reduced himself to the role of going street by street to gather people for BJP meetings,” Stalin said.
The CM also alleged that RSS made an attempt on the life of former CM Kamaraj, and asserted that it was his duty to protect the people from such forces.
He accused the centre of “failing” to prevent the frequent attacks on the Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy. Retrieving the Katchatheevu islet ceded to Lanka alone would ensure a lasting solution to the fishermen issue, he said, and recalled the state Assembly resolution in this regard.
Stalin inaugurated and laid the foundation for projects worth Rs 738 crore in Ramanathapuram district at the event. Welfare assistance was also distributed to over 53,000 beneficiaries.