After inspecting the spot, police rejected Sengottaiyan’s plea to organize a victory rally in Erode.

The police denied permission to TVK chief Vijay to hold a public meeting in Erode on December 16 after former minister KA Sengottaiyan, who recently joined the party, filed a petition on Sunday, department sources said.

Erode is the home constituency of nine-time MLA and former minister Sengottaiyan, who joined the actor-politician’s party after being expelled from the AIADMK. This meeting would have been an opportunity for him to prove his strength in organizing a meeting of this scale.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, “The TVK chief will visit Erode on December 16 and address a public meeting in a private land near a marriage hall.”

The former minister also submitted a petition to District Collector S Kandasamy seeking permission for the meeting. Later, he handed over a copy of the petition to officials at the district police office.

Subsequently, Superintendent of Police A Sujatha inspected the seven-acre site in Pavlathampalayam area on the Erode-Perundurai Road, where the TVK wanted to hold the meeting.

Later, police officials told the media that TVK’s petition stated that they expected a crowd of 70 thousand. He said that the venue proposed by him was quite inadequate to accommodate such a crowd and their vehicles and hence the permission was refused.

Officials also said that Sengottaiyan was informed about the decision, and he was asked to choose a different location.