Two people were killed, most likely due to sunstroke, at J Jayalalithaa's rally in Salem on Wednesday.
Highlights
- 2 AIADMK workers attending Jayalalithaa rally died yesterday
- Jayalalithaa has been holding rallies in the afternoon
- Jayalalithaa campaigns for an average of 16 candidates a rally
At Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's rally in Salem on Wednesday,
two AIADMK workers collapsed and died.
Pachiannan, 55, and Periyasamy, 62, died most likely of sunstroke.
The ingredients for a tragedy were clearly in place - an abnormal heat spike and the changed dynamics of Jayalalithaa's current campaign.
In her campaign for the
May 16 polls, the AIADMK chief has unusually chosen to do a rally every alternate day, mostly in the afternoon, clubbing an average 16 candidates an event.
Each candidate is expected to mobilise about 20,000, which comes to over three lakh a rally.
In Salem, Ms Jayalalithaa had assembled a staggering 51 candidates on stage.
Jayalalithaa had 51 candidates on stage at the rally in Salem.
The result was a traffic jam that started over 10 km from the rally venue, made up of long queues of open-top trucks packed with people.
Small knots of attendees simply gave up and were seen sprawled under the shade of trees by the roadside.
But many more either inched ahead or abandoned their vehicles to walk the final stretch for a glimpse of their "Amma".
Thousands were already seated on the ground in the open, without the benefit of portable air conditioners running at full blast for AIADMK leaders seated on a covered stage.
The entire route and the venue were littered with discarded water pouches handed out by organisers. It's unlikely that these tiny pouches would have slaked the thirst of such a large crowd, waiting in the heat for hours.
For a rally scheduled at 3 pm, Jayalalithaa's helicopter touched down close to 4 pm. By then, several had waited or been on the road for at least four hours.
Thousands present at Tamil Nadu Chief Miniter Jayalalithaa's rally in Madurai last week (File Photo)
The sight of the chopper triggered a moment of panic as thousands at the security barriers surged forward.
Just a week ago, two were killed in a stampede at a Jayalalithaa rally in Virrudachalam, 250 km from Chennai.
The reasons for her highly compressed campaign schedule remain unclear; it may partly be because of her health.
At Salem, she walked on stage in a halting manner, delivering the entire speech while seated, a practice she has followed throughout this campaign and a first for her.
That however, may not justify scheduling rallies in the 40-plus heat.
The DMK's MK Stalin has blamed the Chief Minister for the deaths, tweeting that she holds rallies in the afternoon because her chopper cannot fly after sunset.
Stung by the criticism, Jayalalithaa has expressed regret at the Salem deaths and promised compensation; there were no such announcements after the previous rally deaths