The venue for a government event – the stakeholders’ meeting of Tamil Nadu Guidance Bureau – organised in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry in the city, was changed at the eleventh hour on Monday, after the officials realised that sidelined AIADMK (Amma) leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran was planning to stay at the hotel where the meeting was supposed to take place. State Ministers Vellamandi N. Natarajan and S. Valarmathi were slated to address the meeting to discuss the draft Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act and Rules, 2017. Senior State government officials were also scheduled to speak during the event.
Once it became clear that Mr. Dhinakaran would be checking into the hotel, the district officials stepped in to avert an unsavoury situation and a possible clash between supporters of the rival groups.
Mr. Dhinakaran was on a visit to the city to participate in a public meeting against NEET scheduled for Tuesday. As his visit came in the wake of disqualification earlier in the day of 18 MLAs pledging allegiance to him, officials apparently did not want to take any chances.
The meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 1.30 p.m., was postponed to 3 p.m. and shifted to the Collector’s office. The change in venue and time was notified at the hotel later.