COIMBATORE: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has stepped up its focus on attendees' safety at public meetings, following the Karur stampede on September 27, 2025, which resulted in the death of 41 people.
Party sources said that the TVK's headquarters has issued strict directives to all district-level functionaries, ensuring the top priority is the safety and well-being of everyone attending events and meetings. As the election is approaching, they have been asked to focus on this safety-first approach. This approach was on display at TVK's district-level public meeting in Coimbatore on Sunday.
Although it was a second-tier event attended by General Secretary 'Bussy' Anand, KA Sengottaiyan, Aadhav Arjuna and others, the organisers established a full temporary health camp that operated like a mini-hospital at the meeting, with beds for patients, qualified doctors and nurses on duty, a stock of emergency drugs, and a ventilator-supported ambulance on standby. Additionally, a dedicated paramedical team was deployed.
"Four doctors, including a woman doctor, a paramedical team with staff nurses and 10 trainee nurses were appointed at the meeting venue. We were in touch with six private hospitals and one government hospital in the vicinity for emergency care. All attendees were provided with drinking water and snacks and offered essential medical checkups. Fortunately, all went well," said Coimbatore South District secretary K Vignesh.
Party sources said they are instructed to focus on preventing any negative incident or bad reputation from such tragedies happening again, rather than chasing public praise or a positive image.
"The safety-first approach is being focused on keeping the Karur tragedy in mind. It helps us rebuild trust among the public. As the 2026 assembly election is approaching, we have to conduct many such events and party leaders continue to participate. Even for second-tier leaders, we get a large turnout, and if the party's leader attends, we definitely get a huge response. We are also setting an example to others with this effort," said a senior functionary associated with the party's event planning.