Vijay Is Responsible, Has Blood On His Hands: Netizens Demand TVK Chief's Accountability In Deadly Karur Stampede

A stampede occurred in Tamil star and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay's political rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur district. A senior police officer estimated that "at least 30,000 people had gathered" at the venue. The crowd swelled and became uncontrollable even as Vijay was addressing the gathering. A number of persons including party workers and a few children fainted and fell down. While more details of the stampede continue to come to light, it is being reported that at least 20, including women and children, are feared dead and close to 50 are critically injured.

Also read: Tamil Nadu: Stampede at Vijay's Karur Rally Leaves Over 30 Dead

As worrying visuals of the crowd at the rally and heartbreaking glimpses of the stampede in Karur surfaced online, netizens demanded accountability. Some even demanded that Vijay be arrested. Netizens also drew comparisons with the stampede at Vijay's rally and what unfolded at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad in December last year during a screening of Pushpa 2: The Rule. A stampede outside the cinema hall, where Allu Arjun had arrived to watch his movie with fans before release, resulted in the death of a woman.

A deadly stampede also unfolded at the Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL victory parade in Bengaluru on June 4 this year. Eleven people were killed and 56 others were injured in a stampede which took place outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Questioning Vijay over the stampede in Karur, a social media user wrote, "Vijay is main reason..to show his power in karur..poor management  by his team (sic)." Another one wrote, "Love for cinema actors and Cricketers are the worst thing happened in our nation."

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed their condolences over the loss of  lives in the Karur stampede.