Addressing the rally on Friday, actor Vijay claimed that his party has gained immense popularity among the people as its support base has crossed 30 percent.
AIADMK national spokesperson Kovai Sathyan tried to attack actor-politician Vijay after a man died at his party’s Tamilga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Salem, Tamil Nadu on Friday, February 13.
Tamilga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay delivered a speech during the party’s election campaign at Seelanaikenpatti in Tamil Nadu’s Salem district on Friday. (TVK)However, the latest rally, four months after Karoo’s stampede, was once again marked by controversy: another death, harassment of TV journalists and jeers from an opposition party.
“Looks like one should carry his coffin to attend TVK gatherings in future,” Sathyan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) in both Tamil and English, accompanied by pictures of men carrying a coffin.
Satyan’s comments came after a 37-year-old man from Maharashtra, who fell unconscious after suffering a heart attack at a rally of TVK, a fan of Vijay, was rushed to hospital, news agency ANI reported. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
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“During the incident, he suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to medical aid, but was declared brought dead due to heart attack. Police are conducting further investigation into the incident,” said the police.
More details on the circumstances surrounding the man’s death are awaited.
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Clash of TVK cadres with journalistsAfter the man’s death, the situation escalated when some journalists were beaten up by TVK members or workers near the hospital where Suraj died, news agency PTI quoted police as saying.
There, journalists were asking a senior official of TVK about the cause of the man’s death. They also asked if the man was given an entry pass with a QR code, the report said. However, some members of the team who were with the worker asked reporters not to capture any visuals. This, reportedly, led to an argument between journalists and party workers during which the latter harassed the former, reports said.
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Reacting to the incident, TVK general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar said that they should not allow such incidents to happen again and that it was due to a “slight misunderstanding”.
“We have come to know that there have been a few incidents in Salem where there have been minor clashes between journalists and workers. We certainly don’t want it to happen again. Since the press meet was organized here, I think there was a slight misunderstanding in Salem. We regret that incident and we hope that it does not happen in future while speaking to the press…” ANI.
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Vijay says TVK’s support base has crossed 30% Addressing the rally on Friday, actor Vijay claimed that his party has gained immense popularity among the people as its support base has crossed 30 percent.
“We have come into politics to repay a debt of gratitude to people; we are not here for politics of hate,” Vijay was quoted as saying by PTI.
“To give good governance, one does not have to be highly educated. With the support of people power like Kamrajar (former chief minister, Congress leader, noted freedom fighter) and MGR, with good officers who care for the people, I can give excellent governance. I will,” he said.
Tamil Nadu is set to go to state assembly elections later this year.
Nikita Sharma is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times. He is a Delhi-based digital journalist with five years of experience writing and editing news on crime, politics, technology, trends and more, both nationally and internationally. At Hindustan Times, he is part of the news team and focuses on breaking news, keeping track of what’s happening where and following ever-evolving news stories. He has a penchant for covering crime, geopolitics and Indian politics with a keen eye for stories often overlooked in the daily news cycle. At Hindustan Times, he has extensively covered several important events including the US presidential election, Air India plane crash, Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, US tariff war and others. Covered As a fan of Delhi, he especially enjoys traveling and writing about the national capital – its heritage, food, art and culture and the many problems that come with it – pollution, waterlogging, traffic jams and more. Nikita graduated from GGSIPU in Journalism and Mass Communication and started working as a digital journalist in 2021. During his first stint, he covered hyperlocal news in a Delhi-based newsroom, writing and editing stories on builder-buyer conflicts, civic issues like potholes, waterlogging, lack of hospital facilities in Delhi’s hospitals. He also writes features covering Delhi’s art exhibitions, heritage walks, artist profiles, museums, classical Hindustani music concerts and dance events. He entered mainstream news in 2023 and earlier worked at NDTV.Read more
