Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday visited Karur in Tamil Nadu, where a tragic stampede during TVK chief Vijay’s rally on Saturday claimed the lives of 41 people. During her visit, she met with the injured survivors and bereaved families, offering them comfort while also conveying the condolences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister, she said, had personally called her and Union Minister of State L Murugan, instructing them to visit the affected site, speak to the families who had lost their loved ones, and check on the condition of those still undergoing treatment. Sitharaman described the experience as deeply painful, admitting that her “stomach was churning” as she listened to the accounts of grief and suffering, and that her heart was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point that she found it difficult to respond.
Accompanied by Murugan, Sitharaman visited the hospital to meet the injured, inspected the stampede site along with the district collector, and later sat with several families of the deceased. She noted that most of the victims came from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, making the loss even more devastating for their households. She conveyed the Prime Minister’s condolences, assuring the families that the government shared their grief and that immediate assistance from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund would be provided to both the bereaved and the injured. She also mentioned that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with the Prime Minister, had already expressed their condolences publicly.
Beyond conveying messages of sympathy, Sitharaman stressed the urgent need for preventive measures to avoid such tragedies in the future. She pointed out that public gatherings in India, which often draw massive crowds, must be better managed through clear and well-defined standard operating procedures. “No time is a bad time for setting SOPs for public matters, particularly where there will be a huge assembly of people. Probably, we are rather too late. Not just in one state, but across the country, we should have a better way of managing public gatherings,” she remarked. Her statement underscored that crowd safety should be seen as a national responsibility rather than a state-specific concern.
The Finance Minister also confirmed that she would provide a detailed briefing to Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah upon her return to Delhi, updating them on the situation and her interactions with the affected families. She reiterated that the tragedy in Karur was shocking and painful and that every possible step would be taken to both support the victims and to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.
