Chennai: Giant cut-outs of Periyar E V Ramasamy, K Kamaraj and B R Ambedkar will be welcoming the participants of the maiden conference of the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), the new party launched by actor Vijay, at V Salai village near Vikravandi in Villupuram district, which has started drawing onlookers who are not allowed to enter the barricaded area where work is going on a hectic pace.
The 170 acre venue of the political meet, sandwiched between a highway and railway track, has of late become the most searched location on Google maps, foretelling a situation on Sunday when all roads in the State might lead to V Salai, which has been given the sobriquet ‘Vijay Salai’ by the fans of the party president, whose 60 feet high cutout would rub shoulders with that of the popular leaders of the country.
In the setting up of the launch platform, touted to be the stage for the nascent party to unveil its principles, policies, objectives and goals, the organizers have given a clear hint on the broad principles of the TVK even before Vijay announces them. The party would strive for social justice, uplift of the downtrodden, fight caste discrimination, provide education for all and fight hunger is the message sent through the selection of the political icons as guiding lights.
On the ground, last minute work like sprucing up the venue to provide seating arrangements to the participants, setting up the wide stage, erecting a facade designed like the historic Fort St George to proclaim the prime and immediate aspiration of the party – to capture power in the State – was progressing at a fast pace on Wednesday even as guards kept curious visitors at bay.
A spate of fresh YouTube channels have flooded social media to provide information on the event, whose organization on Sunday has been confirmed after the dark clouds that hung over the State dissipated letting the rays of the sun to scorch the damp ground and prepare it for the event that would adhere to norms for crowd management and security restrictions and perhaps become a model political conference.
Coming in the wake of an air show at the Marina sands on October 6 that came under scrutiny for the failure of the authorities to provide water and other basic necessities for the people and to manage the crowd, the Villupuram district police were leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that all arrangements were done to prevent any disasters at V Salai.
While Vijay himself has already issued a series of instructions to the party cadre that include not to be drunk at the conference and not to behave in an unruly manner on the way, the police had ensured that adequate space was earmarked for parking vehicles that were expected from all over the State and arrangements for supply of water, food and other basic facilities had been made by the organisers.
Private security agencies have been engaged to provide protection to the people, the venue and properties there, while the other facilities to come up include medical kiosks manned by over 1000 professionals, 15,000 LED lights to illuminate the otherwise open space, 700 CCTV cameras for monitoring the crowd and high-tech sound system.
A 1.5 km exclusive pathway has been laid for Vijay to make a grand entry into the conference with his fans cheering him from both sides, separated by barricades, without causing any stampedes. Apart from the bouncers provided by the private security agencies, more police protection has been sought for the conference by the organizers.
