Target me, not TVK cadre, Vijay tells Stalin

Chennai: Actor and TVK chief Vijay, in his first public appearance and comments since 41 people died in the stampede in Tamil Nadu's Karur, took aim at Chief Minister MK Stalin and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and hinted at a conspiracy ahead of next year's election.

"Chief Minister sir... if you have revenge plans, do anything to me. Don't touch my leaders. I will be at home or in office," a sombre Vijay, dressed in grey, said in his video message.

"We did nothing wrong except speaking at the designated spot. But police cases have been filed against our leaders, friends, and social media partners," he said. "My political journey will continue with renewed vigour," he added.

The DMK responded swiftly, pointing out that the TVK boss must accept responsibility for the deaths because he 'broke the rules'. Party spokesperson A Saravanan said, "This is a script again. It took (four) days to release a video?"