Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Friday visited Karur for the first time since assuming office in May, using the occasion to revisit the September 2025 stampede that claimed 41 lives and injured several others. Addressing the gathering, Vijay said the tragedy continued to weigh heavily on him and his party, while accusing political opponents of attempting to derive "political mileage" from the incident. Recalling the events leading up to the stampede, the chief minister said the state administration had received warnings about swelling crowds in neighbouring Perambalur district but not from the Karur Police.

According to Vijay, officials in Perambalur had alerted authorities about the increasing crowd size, whereas no such warning was issued by the local police in Karur despite the large turnout. "The Perambalur Police alerted us that the crowd was getting too large. But the Karur Police didn't give us any such alert. They themselves brought us to the venue, and I believed them," Vijay said, referring to the circumstances surrounding the event that ended in tragedy. Expressing grief over the loss of lives, Vijay said the victims remained in the thoughts of his government and party.

Referring to those who died, he said, "We have lost children of our sisters in the 2025 Karur stampede," underscoring the emotional impact of the incident on families across the state. The chief minister also questioned whether adequate security arrangements had been made for the event. Raising concerns over police deployment and crowd management, he asked who was responsible for ensuring public safety and whether sufficient personnel had been assigned to handle the gathering. "Who is responsible for all this? Who gave the orders? People, I ask you, was adequate police protection provided for such a huge crowd?" Vijay said, calling for accountability over the lapses that allegedly contributed to the stampede.

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Without naming specific political parties, Vijay accused opponents of attempting to exploit the tragedy for political gain instead of focusing on the victims and measures to prevent similar incidents. He said the government's priority remained supporting the affected families and ensuring that such a disaster is not repeated. The Karur stampede in September 2025 was one of Tamil Nadu's deadliest crowd-related incidents in recent years, prompting widespread criticism over event management and public safety measures.

The tragedy led to demands for a thorough investigation into crowd control arrangements, emergency response and administrative accountability. Vijay's visit marks his first official trip to Karur as chief minister and comes amid continued scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the stampede. His remarks are likely to add to the ongoing political debate over responsibility for the incident, while investigations and discussions on improving crowd management at large public events continue in the state.

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