TN stampede: NDA panel questions choice of venue, to grill state govt officials

Karur (Tamil Nadu), Sep 30 (PTI) A panel of NDA MPs tasked with looking into the circumstances leading to the September 27 stampede at a TVK rally here on Tuesday questioned the choice of the venue allotted for actor Vijay's rally.

Referring to the fatal incident that has so far claimed 41 lives, head of the panel and BJP MP, Hema Malini said that political rallies should be properly organised and conducted with full security.

The panel is all set to ask a series of questions to state government officials over the incident.

The administration should have taken care, which they failed to ensure proper conduct of the actor-politician's rally, Hema Malini said.

On visiting the site of stampede, she said it was very sad as people had fallen into open sewers, above others and died. Also, there had been a sudden power cut and somebody threw chappals, she claimed.

"Such a thing is unheard of, something very different kind of a thing. So who is responsible for all these things," she asked.

Pointing out to deaths including that of children, she asked: "The responsibility is whose? The administration or the organisers? We have to find out, we have to know that." Sharing her experience of leading rallies, she said police do not allow halting vehicles during roadshows.

However, in Karur, the vehicle Vijay was travelling in was stopped in a narrow spot. While even 1,000 people cannot stand in such a venue, 10,000 people was the estimated turnout before the event.

Vijay also had the responsibility to ensure that the turnout was in right number and in sync with the available security. Also, it seems TVK had sought some other place but it was not allowed.

Panel member and BJP MP Anurag Thakur said the team would pose questions to officials and organisers.

The truth is common people have lost their lives.

A questionnaire has been prepared and this set of questions which would be posed to the officials, he said.

For a free and fair probe, "we feel that a sitting Supreme Court judge must look into this." Hema Malini, who led the eight-member NDA delegation, said the local authorities allocating a "narrow venue" for the programme was "inappropriate." "There was a power cut during Vijay's rally. Something appears to be fishy, not natural," she said.

Had TVK been allotted 'open space' for Vijay's rally, the stampede would not have happened.

Among others, the panel members visited the Karur Government Hospital to inquire about the health condition of those injured in the stampede and undergoing treatment. VGN SA