Months after 41 people died in a stampede during a campaign rally in Karur, actor politician Vijay resumes his first public appearance in Tamil Nadu, in a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally at Erode on Thursday. The party, with former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) strongman K.A. Sengottaiyan at the helm of affairs, has made elaborate arrangements at the venue near the Vijayamangalam toll plaza in Perundurai.
The Erode rally of TVK comes at the behest of Sengottaiyan, who recently joined the TVK after he rebelled with the AIADMK leadership. The rally will be the first for the TVK in western Tamil Nadu; after Vijay’s campaign rally in Namakkal and Karur did not bring any political prospects for the actor. “We have made all arrangements adhering to the conditions issued by the police. There are no QR codes or passes given to those who will come to watch our leader Vijay speak,” Sengottaiyan told the media.
The actor is expected to fly from Chennai to Coimbatore by a chartered flight and then travel by road to the venue at Erode. He will address the rally between 11am and 1pm. It is estimated that 35,000 people, mostly his fans, followers and his party cadres, will come to have a glimpse of the actor and hear his political speech. Vijay will fly back from Coimbatore to Chennai. Adhering to the police instructions, the party has asked its cadres not to follow Vijay’s vehicle along the 68km stretch from Coimbatore airport to the rally venue at Erode.
According to the party, elaborate arrangements have been made at the venue, right from making separate boxes for VIPs, women, party office bearers and the party cadres. While the party leadership has strictly requested pregnant women, children and the elderly not to attend the meeting, over 60 CCTV cameras have been fixed at the venue.
Ambulances and medical teams are also deployed at the venue. Adequate drinking water facilities and toilets have also been arranged according to the organisers. Over 1,000 police personnel are expected to be on duty for security and traffic management. This will be in addition to the private security personnel and bouncers arranged by the party for Vijay.
The meeting, which is part of Vijay’s ‘meet the people' campaign, was suspended after the death of 41 people in Karur. In fact, Vijay did not take much effort to visit the families of the Karur stampede victims while he spoke with them over video call. Vijay has not resumed his statewide tour in the run-up to the election. The meeting at Erode comes after Sengottaiyan, who was once considered loyal to MGR and Jayalalithaa, joined Vijay’s TVK.
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According to the party, Vijay will address the public atop his specially designed campaign bus. Vijay, as usual, is expected to take a dig at the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He is also expected to elaborate his plans for the upcoming elections in which he will present himself as the chief minister candidate.
Vijay’s political plans, which took off from Tiruchirapalli in September this year, had hit a roadblock after the Karur stampede. The party, which had to face the police case, which was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), chose to take a break from its political activities for a brief period. Vijay resumed his outreach on December 5 from Puducherry, where his party cadres had to scan a QR code to get into the rally venue and watch him speak.
Incidentally, Vijay’s next film, Jananayagan’s audio launch is all said to happen in Malaysia on December 20. Jananayagan is scheduled to hit the theatres during this Pongal festival with an aim to appease the voters with his style and punch dialogues, in the run-up to the election.
