He is a hero on screen but actor-turned-politician Vijay is no leader, yet. For a man who aspires to be the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay upped and left when tragedy struck his public rally leaving 39 people, including children, dead.
Published Sep 28, 2025 | 12:23 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 28, 2025 | 12:23 PM
TVK chief Vijay during his rally in Karur. (TVK)
Synopsis: Actor-turned-politician Vijay left the venue and flew back to Chennai when a stampede struck his political rally in Karur and claimed 39 lives. When a real tragedy struck his own rally, when people suffocated to death under his watch, when he was faced with his first challenge as a political leader, TVK’s Vijay failed.
The catchphrase உங்க விஜய், நா வரேன் (Unga Vijay, Naa varen/Your Vijay, I will come) was made to trend on social media by Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) cadres for days ahead of actor-turned-politician and party chief Vijay’s public rallies in Namakkal and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu.
On Saturday, 27 September, when a stampede broke out at the TVK chief’s rally in Karur — killing 39 people, including children — and his fans were being rushed to hospitals for treatment, Vijay was nowhere to be seen. He left.
While ambulances made their way from the venue at Karur carrying the injured and bodies of those suffocated to death — people who had come to just catch a glimpse of their “hero” — the popular actor, who has been slamming his rivals for being “anti-people”, swiftly made his way to Trichy airport to board a private jet to Chennai.
As visuals of wailing parents carrying the lifeless bodies of their toddlers hit news screens, “உங்க விஜய்” (Your Vijay) ducked questions from journalists and rushed into the airport to take off.
Ironically, Vijay is never at a loss for words — whether it is punchy heroics and dialogues on-screen or political bravado and loaded criticism of DMK and BJP on stage. However, when a real tragedy struck his own rally, when people suffocated to death under his watch, when he was faced with his first challenge as a political leader, TVK’s Vijay failed.
For a leader who addresses his followers as “en nenjil kudiyirukkum nanparkal” (friends who reside in my heart), he was nowhere to be seen when the ‘nanparkal’ needed him the most.
Not a word of condolence. Not a single act of leadership. Vijay fled. Vijay failed.
When a condolence message — or rather, a social media post — from Vijay finally came, it was 11.15 pm, nearly four hours after the stampede. He was on stage when it happened. He witnessed his fans falling to the ground. He even stopped his speech to ask for police and volunteers to help those who had fainted. That is pretty much all Vijay did. A post announcing Rs 20 lacs compensation for the deceased came a day later.
In contrast, leaders of the ruling DMK and the Opposition AIADMK rushed to the Karur hospital. They spoke with victims and their kin and coordinated medical assistance efforts. The Tamil Nadu government intervened to reassign doctors, healthcare workers and equipment from neighbouring hospitals and healthcare centres to attend to those injured.
Several people argue that had Vijay made his way to the hospital, there could have been more crowding and impediment to the treatment of the injured. True. Vijay’s massive popularity draws huge crowds wherever he goes. The same crowd has been showcased by his party, TVK, to claim he is a force to be reckoned with.
However, a leader with empathy and resourcefulness would have deputed his second rung to assist those who were injured or stand in solidarity with families who lost their kin at his own rally. A leader would have stayed put in Trichy, if not Karur, to show he stands with his supporters at a time of tragedy.
Instead of showing leadership and accountability, Vijay chose to leave, without even putting in place a plan to help his fans who suffered the grave error of coming to get a glimpse of him.
There is no doubt that the police and district administration have to be held accountable for the tragedy at Karur, which cost 39 lives. Ensuring the safety of people is the responsibility of the police and the government, in this case, the district administration. This, however, doesn’t absolve Vijay of responsibility.
He is the crowd puller for TVK. The buck stops with him. Not because he is a superstar with a huge fan following, but because his superstardom was misused irresponsibly and became a recipe for disaster.
Prolonged delays, mismatched timing, deliberate roadshows despite no permission, one-upmanship by district units to gather crowds, inadequate arrangements and a penchant for “drone worthy” shots — all of it aimed at painting Vijay in a larger than life image and gain political mileage have led to the death of people.
TVK officially claimed that Vijay’s public outreach programme in Namakkal would begin at 8.45 am on Saturday, and the Karur rally at 12 noon.
மக்கள் விரும்பும் முதல்வர் வேட்பாளர்,மக்கள் தலைவர் நாளை உங்களை சந்திக்க வருகிறார். pic.twitter.com/sjtt2drI2J
— TVK IT Wing Official (@TVKHQITWingOffl) September 26, 2025
Despite announcing that the Namakkal event would begin at 8.45 am, Vijay left his residence in Chennai only between 8.30 am and 9 am. By the time he addressed the gathering at Namakkal, the first venue for the day, it was already 3 pm. A delay of over six hours. The event at Karur, as announced by TVK, was to be held at 12 noon. Vijay arrived seven hours late.
Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (in-charge) G Venkataraman told the press on Sunday that TVK sought permission for the event from 3 pm to 10 pm. However, on its social media pages, TVK claimed that the leader (Vijay) would arrive at 12 noon. In reality, he only arrived at 7.40 pm. The crowds started gathering at Karur from 11 am onwards.
Women and children stood in the hot sun for seven hours waiting for Vijay. No water, no food and left to fend for themselves.
In their letter seeking permission, TVK said 10,000 people are expected to gather in Karur. Due to the prolonged delay by Vijay, people kept trickling in for hours. By the time Vijay arrived, the crowds ran into nearly 30,000 — about thrice the number initially estimated.
Buildings, trees, light posts and hoarding posts — the swelling crowd didn’t spare any space. People gathered atop buildings in dangerously high numbers, leaning on buntings and hoardings, putting their safety at risk — all to get a glimpse of Vijay.
The seven-hour delay is being seen as a deliberate ploy to keep numbers swelling. After all, nothing quite makes for drone-worthy shots of a political rally than a sea of humanity waiting with bated breath for their hero.
At the Saturday afternoon Namakkal rally, Vijay’s speech ran into several issues, technical glitches, sound system failures and poor flow of thoughts. The Karur rally was aimed at making up for the “setback”.
Unlike other political parties that have district units built from scratch, TVK simply converted Vijay fan clubs in each district into party units. The units are fuelled by a culture of cult following and fandom, instead of political aspirations and public interest. In a bid to make each of Vijay’s public outreach programmes bigger, louder and better, every district unit of the TVK works towards gathering bigger crowds.
It has been designed to give an impression of “growing support” for Vijay.
In Karur, as well, TVK cadres focused on gathering a bigger crowd. Prolonged delay by Vijay gave them ample time to keep filling the streets of Karur with people. Some residents, others mobilised from neighbouring towns and villages, and several more formed a floating crowd. A recurring constant at Vijay’s public rallies is a floating crowd — thousands of fans who travel wherever he goes. Gathering a crowd may be easy, but controlling a crowd is not.
Hundreds of fans followed Vijay’s vehicle from Namakkal to Karur on Saturday also — a distance of about 40 km — adding to the swelling crowd when he arrived at the venue. Despite the police not giving permission for roadshows, Vijay has repeatedly carried out informal roadshows, sitting in the front seat of his campaign vehicle, waving to fans gathered on either side of the roads.
In each of these instances, the accountability of the crowds falls squarely on Vijay. His choice to delay arrival at the event, compelling crowds to wait for hours and swell, his choice to carry on roadshows despite no permission and, finally, his choice to then leave from Karur and fly to Chennai, even as people died in the hospital.
The huge tragedy is unlikely to dent his popularity, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise. In a land where hero worship trumps all logic and ethics, the tragedy will soon be forgotten, and Vijay will once again hold rallies amidst a sea of people. That, however, won’t change the reality of how Vijay responded to a crisis — with fear, not courage; with escapism, not accountability.
For a man who aspires to be the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Vijay upped and left when tragedy struck his public rally, leaving 39 people, including children, dead and numerous others grievously injured.
Vijay showed he is no leader, let alone a leader with empathy.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
