Express News Service
CHENNAI: Besides the Aadi month, residents of Mamallapuram have one more reason to celebrate— the 44th International Chess Olympiad. From the electricity boxes to compound walls, Mamallapuram sports a chequered look and displays posters for the competition.
For 14-year-old Sarathy, the Olympiad means that his father will not have to travel far for work, for two weeks. Sarathy’s father Gunasekaran is a truck driver hauling long travels. A few weeks ago, leaders from villages around Mamallapuram sent out a clarion call for workers to join the force of drivers and other workers to assist with the competition.
“I enrolled with the committee and many people like me were prepared to drive vans and cars transporting players and other delegates, ” said Gunasekaran. Like Gunasekaran, many of the villagers are recruited to work at the Olympiad. From domestic helpers to cooks and local guides, several villagers seem happy to be a part of the historical event.
From Kovalam to Kadambathur, workers are finishing up the final works of painting and raising banners and barricades. The labourers were promised wages more than usual, said the villagers. Meanwhile, the police have canvassed the autorickshaw drivers and streetside vendors to not fleece foreign players.
Since the players are expected to visit the temple shore and other historical monuments in the town, the police have deployed a team for their protection. “We have to provide protection but also the delegates and players should not feel threatened by the huge police presence.
Hence, we have deployed personnel in civic clothes to monitor residences and tourist attractions,” said a police officer. An electricity official in Mamallapuram told TNIE that the department has dedicated transmission towers exclusively for the event to avoid power termination.
Congress to boycott inauguration
Chennai: With hours left for the grand inauguration of the 44th Chess Olympiad, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress party’s assembly floor leader K Selvaperunthagai announced that the party MLAs will boycott the event. In his press statement, K Selvaperunthagai appreciated the efforts of Chief Minister MK Stalin, who was the reason for Tamil Nadu getting the opportunity to host the Olympiad. But he expressed his concern over the participation of the PM in its inauguration and reasoned that Modi used Central agencies to strangulate opposition voices, not providing assent to the State’s bill seeking exemption from the NEET. He announced that the MLAs of the Congress party would boycott the inauguration. He made it clear that their opposition is only against Modi and not against the Olympiad.
Modi’s photo missing from ads and posters not acceptable: BJP
Chennai: BJP functionaries have taken exception as the advertisements and wall posters issued by the State government for the Olympiad failed to display a photo of PM Narendra Modi. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana and Puducherry has expressed concern over the absence of Modi’s picture at the venue. She requested Chief Minister MK Stalin to take steps to add the PM’s pictures. Meanwhile, people claiming to be cadres of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam blacked out Modi’s photos affixed by BJP functionaries at a bus stop in Adyar. Following this, one Sasikumar was taken into custody. Na r ayana n Thirupathy, BJP spokesperson, expressed concern that the CM should have ensured that the PM’s photos were on wall posters as a matter of courtesy.
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