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Chennai, Nov 3 (IANS) In the wake of a stampede during a Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Karur on September 27 that left 41 people dead, the Tamil Nadu government has announced that an all-party meeting will be held on November 6 to formulate comprehensive security guidelines for political rallies and campaign programs across the state.
According to an official announcement, the meeting will be held at the Namakkal Kavignar Maligai Hall of the Chennai Secretariat under the leadership of senior ministers.
Representatives of all recognized political parties in Tamil Nadu have been invited to share their views on setting up uniform security protocols for large public gatherings and election-related events.
The move follows the direction of the Madras High Court, which took suo motu cognizance of the Karur incident and directed the state government to frame guidelines aimed at preventing such tragedies in future.
The court underlined the need for strict crowd-control mechanisms, better coordination between political organizers and police and pre-event security audits of venues to ensure public safety.
Chief Minister MK Stalin recently chaired a high-level review meeting with senior bureaucrats and police officials to probe the causes of the Karur accident.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister reiterated that although every political party has the right to hold meetings and campaign programmes, public safety should remain paramount.
The upcoming all-party meeting is expected to discuss several parameters including crowd limits, venue design, permission process, emergency preparedness and accountability of organisers.
The government is also exploring setting up a uniform approval and monitoring system for political events through district-level authorities to ensure greater coordination and compliance.
The Karur tragedy, which occurred when thousands of people took to the crowded road during a TVK rally addressed by actor-politician Vijay, has sparked a statewide debate on crowd management, event safety and political accountability.
The November 6 all-party meeting is being seen as an important step towards creating a standardized security framework to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the political landscape of Tamil Nadu.
–IANS
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