More than 1,500 police personnel from Coimbatore were on duty
AIADMK supremo J.Jayalalithaa campaigns for AIADMK mayor candidate P.Rajkumar at VOC Grounds in Coimbatore on Monday (Photo: DC/File)
Coimbatore: Over 3,000 policemen in the city were on their toes since Monday morning as Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was visiting the city on the last day of the campaign for mayoral elections.
As per the security arrangements of Coimbatore city police, more than 1,500 police personnel from Coimbatore were on duty. Seven units of police (each unit comprises 120 police personnel), two units of armed battalion (each unit consists of 60 personnel), three units of women police (each unit having 25 personnel) and four units of traffic police (each with 34 personnel) from Tirupur, Nilgiris, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchy, Perambalur, Pudukkottai and Thanjavur, reached Coimbatore city on Sunday afternoon. They were deputed to various parts of the city on Monday.
The police personnel were deployed on both sides of Avinashi road, starting from Avinashi flyover to Chinniampalayam for about 15 km. The other teams of police were deployed in and around Coimbatore V.O.C. park zoo, Nehru stadium, Nanjappa road, Gandhipuram, railway station and Avarampalayam, the police said.
Kovai turns rapturous:
Coimbatore city wore a festive look as a massive crowd from across the western region thronged here to cheer Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who arrived to campaign for the AIADMK candidate G. Rajkumar on Monday.
The arterial Avinashi Road witnessed a sea of people who had been waiting since afternoon to have a glimpse of Jayalalithaa at the VOC Park Grounds, the venue of the campaign. Thousands of cadres gathered on either side of the road, braving the hot sun to greet the CM. Huge cutouts and arches were placed on the long stretch of Avinashi Road over about 11 km.
As the drumbeats of chenda melam and traditional thappattam by several troupes rent the air, the jubilant cadres danced and livened up the occasion. The Chief Minister, who came by around 5 pm, paid floral tributes at the Anna statue on the leader’s 106 birth anniversary and released a special book that was received by minister for municipal administration S.P. Velumani.
Among the thousands of cadres, a little boy turned out to be the cynosure of all eyes as he came dressed up as matinee idol MGR. “I love watching MGR movies and hearing his ‘meaningful’ songs. Therefore I developed a liking for the AIADMK party founded by him. This is the first political meet, I came for and was lucky to get a close view of Jayalalithaa,” said D. Kirubakaran, a class 3 student.
Due to the byelection campaign, traffic diversions were effected in the city and the entire stretch of Avinashi Road from Coimbatore airport to the VOC Park ground was blocked for a few hours.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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