By Kavita Mistry 
Amid a growing controversy over the power outage during the Karur rally of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay, a letter has surfaced showing that the party had requested a temporary power shutdown citing public safety. The rally on Saturday saw a stampede that claimed 41 lives, including women and children, and left over 60 people injured.
Officials from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (EB) confirmed that a request was submitted by TVK for a temporary power shutdown but was denied. Rajalakshmi, Chief Engineer and District West Secretary, said the letter had been received from the TVK, citing the large crowd expected at Veluchamipuram on Erode Road after midnight on September 27, 2025, but the request was rejected.
Government sources said the letter requested that electricity be turned off only while Vijay was speaking to ensure public safety. “Since Veluchamipuram is a crowded area and a large crowd of people will come, I humbly request you to turn off the electricity only for the specified time when the leader is speaking, considering the safety of the public,” the letter read.
TVK sources have alleged that the outage was part of a conspiracy. “The incident had been engineered by the police and the local politician with the illicit connection with the local goondas,” a party source said.
WHAT EYEWITNESS TOLD INDIA TODAY
Eyewitnesses told India Today that there was a power cut from 7 to 7.30 pm. According to Vinod Kumar, brother-in-law of one of the victims, a family of four waited late into the evening to see Vijay, affectionately called ‘Vijay Mama’ by his fans. “It was getting very late, but they wanted to see Vijay sir once. There was a power cut from 7 to 7:30 pm, and the crowd surged just ahead of his arrival. My sister-in-law and her two children, aged 11 and 7, died on the spot. The elder child and younger one were struggling to breathe and got separated from their mother,” he said. Postmortem reports confirmed suffocation.
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu government claimed that there was no power cut at the venue, contrary to TVK’s claims that power supply was cut off when Vijay reached the rally venue. The Tamil Nadu government’s Fact Check Unit on Monday said in a post on X: “There was no power cut at the event. Although the TVK party had requested a power supply interruption, no such power cut occurred. The brief dimming of a few lights was solely due to a generator issue in the party’s arrangements.” The district collector and the ADGP also issued similar clarifications.
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