Chennai: Despite the flak actor-turned-politician Vijay is facing over the stampede at his Karur rally that left 41 people dead, the AIADMK has spoken up in support of the TVK leader, who has, in the past, taken a very strong stance against AIADMK ally BJP, referring to it as his ideological enemy.
But interestingly, even the BJP has refrained from criticising Vijay or his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
“They signal an open invitation for Vijay to be part of their fold. This is also an attempt to tap into Vijay’s increasing fan base and the parties are recalibrating their strategies ahead of 2026 assembly elections,” political analyst and Professor V.M. Sunilkumar told ThePrint.
On Thursday evening, addressing the public during a campaign rally in Dharmapuri district, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami blamed the DMK for failing to provide proper security for the TVK campaign.
“The government failed in its duty to protect the people. If Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had given appropriate orders to the police to provide proper security, the incident could have been averted and lives of people may not have been lost,” he said.
Ever since the tragedy, Edappadi K. Palaniswami has been cornering the ruling DMK, maintaining there was “no mistake on the part of TVK”. Although TVK has not officially acknowledged the support, TVK supporters were seen participating in AIADMK’s public campaign.
During the campaign held in Dharmapuri on Thursday, TVK workers were seen participating in AIADMK’s campaign with TVK flags.
Political analyst N. Sathiya Moorthy, however, said Vijay was unlikely to support the NDA alliance after having declared the BJP an ideological opponent at his very first conference in Vikravandi in Villupuram district.
“AIADMK and BJP do not have the ground to support Vijay. Because, he has not sought the support of the parties and, in fact, he has already declared BJP its ideological rival. But, both the parties are trying to seize the opportunity to corner DMK and increase anti-incumbency against it. It is unlikely that Vijay would pay heed to the support of AIADMK and BJP,” Sathiya Moorthy told ThePrint.
Vijay fed RSS script: DMK
Even as AIADMK and BJP support Vijay, DMK ally Thol Thirumavalavan alleged that Vijay is being fed RSS scripts.
“Vijay did not reach on his own. He is being fed with such inputs from people like Aadhav Arjuna, C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar and K.G. Arunraj, who have long-standing ties with the BJP and RSS. Vijay is speaking the language of BJP and RSS,” Thirumavalavan alleged.
Referring to the case filed for the Karur stampede, Thirumavalavan slammed the state police for not booking Vijay.
“If there is a reason to book a case against their party’s general secretary N. Anand, then would not the same reason apply to Vijay and other members of the party? What stopped the police from booking a case against Vijay?” he asked the state police.
“TVK has been claiming that there is an underground deal between BJP and DMK. Now, shall we claim that there is an underground deal between DMK and TVK for not booking a case against Vijay?” Thirumavalavan questioned.
However, when asked about it, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said that the case was registered against TVK party functionaries who sought permission for the meeting.
“Whether Vijay is also legally liable for the incident will only be known (when) the one-man inquiry commission’s report (is submitted). Based on the inquiry commission’s report, action will be taken against everybody involved,” Elangovan told ThePrint.
Nevertheless, BJP state president Nainer Nagendran said that it was ironic that Vijay was being described as the BJP’s B-team.
“Ever since Vijay founded his party, he has been calling us as an ideological rival. How can he be under our influence?” he asked while talking to reporters in Chennai.
Speaking to ThePrint, he said that the party was not supporting Vijay, but was only questioning the DMK government for failing to protect the people of the state. “It is the duty of the state government to protect its people. This is not the first incident where people have lost lives in a stampede. Even a year ago, five people died in Marina during an airshow. That’s why we question the government,” Nainer Nagendran told ThePrint.
Political analyst R. Mani told ThePrint that the Karur incident has placed Vijay at the centre of Tamil Nadu’s politics, pushing the opposition parties to the corners. “The tragedy has not diminished his appeal. On the contrary, it has shown the scale of his support base in the state and it has only turned against the state government. Both AIADMK and BJP are just trying to stay relevant,” Mani said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of BJP-led NDA MPs led by Anurag Thakur visited Karur and met the victims of the stampede.
On 1 October, Anurag Thakur had written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to “take complete charge of this situation and ask concerned authorities to furnish a report at the earliest.”
“What arrangements and precautionary measures were taken by the administration and law enforcement agencies to regulate and manage the crowd prior and during the event? What, according to the initial findings, were the lapses or unforeseen circumstances that contributed to the tragedy despite preventive actions?” he asked in the letter written to the chief minister.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Karur tragedy can end Vijay’s political career. It showed his inexperience and immaturity