'He knows people in a small town like Karur would give anything for a glimpse of the superstar.'
"The small town has been thrown into a state of shock due to the negligence of some people," Mathura Lok Sabha MP Hema Malini, who led a National Democratic Alliance delegation to the grieving town of Karur in Tamil Nadu, tells Subhash K Jha.
Forty one people died in a stampede during a rally addressed by movie superstar and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder Vijay in the town on Saturday, September 27, 2025.
Does she blame Vijay for the tragedy?
"He should not have invited so many people. He knows his popularity, he knows people in a small town like Karur would give anything for a glimpse of the superstar," Hemaji said.
"Why Karur, even in Chennai the turnout for Vijay would be huge. The security arrangements were just not up to the mark," she added.
She visited the injured in the hospital. "They are shocked at what has happened. A stampede of this magnitude has never happened at a political rally. There should be a thorough investigation as to why this happened."