Chennai, Sep 30 — Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay will campaign in Dharapuram on Wednesday for the party’s candidate, Sathyabama, ahead of the October 6 Assembly bypoll.
The meeting comes with six days left before polling in the reserved constituency in Tiruppur district.
Sathyabama won the seat as an AIADMK candidate but later resigned from the Assembly and joined TVK, prompting the bypoll.
Twenty-two candidates are in the fray, and the main parties have intensified their campaigns.
Organisers have prepared a 54-acre ground at Maruthi Nagar in Kondarasampalayam, along the Dharapuram-Udumalpet road, for CM Vijay’s public meeting.
A bus, which will serve as his speaking platform, has been positioned near the venue. Seating has been arranged for ministers and senior party functionaries, with separate sections for volunteers and the public.
More than 10 large LED screens have been installed to show the proceedings across the ground. Organisers are issuing QR-coded entry passes to about 10,000 people.
CM Vijay is scheduled to leave Chennai by private aircraft around noon and arrive at Coimbatore airport at about 1 p.m. He will then travel by car to the meeting ground, where he is expected at around 3 p.m. After addressing the gathering, he will return to Coimbatore by road and fly back to Chennai.
The visit has prompted traffic restrictions in Dharapuram. Heavy vehicles will be barred from entering the town, other traffic will be diverted, and iron barricades have been placed at key points.
Speed breakers at about 50 locations along the four-lane Dharapuram-Palladam road, including stretches near schools, colleges and rural bus stops, are being removed ahead of the Chief Minister’s journey.
Police have increased security in the town and around the Maruthi Nagar venue. More than 3,000 personnel from Tiruppur, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris and Erode districts have been deployed under Coimbatore West Zone Inspector General Ramya Bharathi. Coimbatore DIG Saminathan inspected the arrangements on Tuesday.
The bypoll is drawing attention as Sathyabama seeks to retain the seat under a new party banner. Her opponents are also canvassing across the constituency as the campaign enters its final days.