A total of 4,500 police personnel - under the supervision of the Superintendents of Police (SPs) from Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, and Tiruvannamalai districts - will be deployed as part of security arrangements for the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vellore town on Wednesday (April 10).
The Prime Minister will address a public meeting at Vellore Fort to garner votes for the NDA candidates of Vellore, Arakkonam, Arani, and Tiruvannamalai constituencies. Senior BJP leaders are expected to participate in the public meeting.
N. Manivannan, SP (Vellore), told The Hindu that adequate security measures have been put in place ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the fort town. The Prime Minister will fly from Chennai to the under-construction airport on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH44) on the outskirts of Vellore town. He will proceed to the town, around 30 km from the airport, by road.
As per the plan, Mr. Modi will address a public meeting at the open ground in the fort complex in the town. The scheduled time for the public meeting is between 10.30 a.m. and 12 p.m., after which he will fly back to Chennai. “The security arrangements at the fort complex and on the route are being reviewed on a daily basis. All key public spots like bus terminus, railway stations, and markets are under continuous surveillance,” Mr. Manivannan said.
As part of the security arrangements, sniffer dogs from a police dog squad were deployed to detect any explosives or other dangerous materials at the Vellore Cantonment railway station, which is on the rear side of the fort complex.
BJP functionaries in Vellore said the Prime Minister’s visit to Vellore will enhance the existing election campaign for NDA candidates in the region, especially the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, where A.C. Shanmugam (BJP) is pitted against incumbent DMK MP D.M. Kathir Anand. This is the third time Mr. Shanmugam is contesting from the Vellore constituency. In the 2019 elections, he lost to Mr. Anand only by around 8,000 votes.
Last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a public meeting in Vellore to popularise NDA’s achievement since it came to power in 2014. Since then, a series of public meetings were organised in the region by the BJP on specific topics such as service, good governance, and a government for the poor.
