Chennai: DMK president M K Stalin said he chose not to politicise the Karur stampede which killed 41 people on Sept 27 last year, but chief minister C Joseph Vijay was “stooping low” by exploiting the Pocso case on granite baron R Veeramani for bypolls.“Neither I nor DMK tried to derive petty political mileage from your cowardly flight from Karur ignoring the death of 41 people. All I said at the time was no leader would want his cadres to die. But take some time to think about how low you have stooped in your conduct,” Stalin said in a statement, responding to Vijay’s Madurantakam campaign speech on Friday.Stalin said he had responded in detail about the case and Vijay would have been aware of it if he had read the newspaper. “You (Vijay) shouted in a high pitch, asking me to open my mouth about the ‘Gem’ Veeramani case. Did you come without updating your script paper? I have already spoken about it in detail,” he said.Stalin also questioned Vijay for raising the issue during the Madurantakam campaign when Madras high court had advised not to sensationalise the case. “Did your officials not even tell you that high court had advised that this case should not be politicised,” he asked.“CM sir, introspect and ask yourself if you are speaking in a manner befitting the office of chief minister,” Stalin said.He then criticised Vijay for equating DMK with BJP, alleging that it is TVK which has surrendered to BJP. “How many times have you spoken against BJP,” Stalin asked, adding that TVK frantically removed adverse remarks against BJP from assembly records.He criticised Vijay for claiming to be a “pure force” while poaching AIADMK candidates. “How can you say without any shame that TVK is a pure force and DMK is an evil force while keeping by your side Maragatham Kumaravel, whom you bought from AIADMK and fielded as candidate,” he asked.On Vijay’s allegations that DMK cadres speak derogatorily about women, Stalin asked the TVK chief to check the statements of his party’s “virtual warriors”.
