CHENNAI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled two-day visit to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry this weekend has been cancelled amid the prevailing law and order situation in the national capital, where student and youth protests have continued for the past few days, official sources said.
According to the original itinerary, Shah was to arrive in Chennai from Hubballi by a special aircraft at 11.20 am on Saturday (July 25) and proceed to Puducherry by helicopter. He was scheduled to return to Chennai on Sunday morning before departing for New Delhi by a special flight after a brief halt at the airport.
Preparations for the visit had already begun, with security agencies putting elaborate arrangements in place at Chennai airport. A high-level coordination meeting involving airport authorities and security officials had also been scheduled on Thursday evening at the old airport terminal to finalise the security protocol for the Home Minister’s visit.
However, the meeting was cancelled after the proposed visit was called off, airport security sources said.
Though there has been no official announcement from the Union Home Ministry on the cancellation, sources said Shah’s travel plans were reviewed in view of the evolving situation in Delhi. The national capital has witnessed continuing protests by students and youth, prompting heavy deployment of Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces. Several Metro stations have been temporarily closed and security has been tightened across sensitive locations.
Officials said Shah’s visit to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is likely to be rescheduled once the situation in the national capital returns to normal.