<p>Chennai: With just a week to go for the deadline set by the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government has called a meeting on November 6 of all recognised political parties and those with representation in the Parliament and the Assembly to discuss framing of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for organising political meetings and rallies in the state. </p><p>The meeting will be chaired by senior ministers and attended by senior officials of the state government. Since the government has only called representatives of recognised parties, actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam on whose petition the high court ordered framing of a SOP won’t be part of the meeting on Thursday. </p><p>The SOP is aimed at averting incidents like the stampede at Vijay’s rally in Karur on September 27 that claimed the lives of 41 people. TVK has been blamed for flouting all conditions given by the district administration at the rally, including providing water to the participants. Besides, Vijay’s seven-hour delayed arrival in Karur is also cited as one of the key reasons for the stampede. </p>.DMK, allies to move Supreme Court against SIR of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.<p>After the Karur incident, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the government would formulate a complete SOP in consultation with everyone from sector experts, political parties, activists and the public across the state. He had also said that the SoP will become a model that can be followed not only by Tamil Nadu but also by other states. </p><p>The government wants the SOP to be exhaustive so that Karur-like incidents don’t recur and wants to consult all political parties that are recognised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and those who are represented in Parliament and in the state assembly. </p><p>“The meeting will elicit views from all participants and frame the SOP,” a senior government official said. </p><p>After the meeting, the government is likely to place the draft SOP before the bench of Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan by November 11. The court had last week said that if the government does not comply with the orders, the court said it would direct that applications seeking permission for political meetings must be made 10 days in advance and the police must act on them at least three days before the event. </p><p>TVK filed the petition after having been aggrieved by “onerous” conditions imposed by the police for the party’s campaign meetings. After the Karur tragedy, the government announced that it won’t grant fresh permission for conduct of political parties till the SOP is framed. </p>
<p>Chennai: With just a week to go for the deadline set by the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government has called a meeting on November 6 of all recognised political parties and those with representation in the Parliament and the Assembly to discuss framing of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for organising political meetings and rallies in the state. </p><p>The meeting will be chaired by senior ministers and attended by senior officials of the state government. Since the government has only called representatives of recognised parties, actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam on whose petition the high court ordered framing of a SOP won’t be part of the meeting on Thursday. </p><p>The SOP is aimed at averting incidents like the stampede at Vijay’s rally in Karur on September 27 that claimed the lives of 41 people. TVK has been blamed for flouting all conditions given by the district administration at the rally, including providing water to the participants. Besides, Vijay’s seven-hour delayed arrival in Karur is also cited as one of the key reasons for the stampede. </p>.DMK, allies to move Supreme Court against SIR of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.<p>After the Karur incident, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the government would formulate a complete SOP in consultation with everyone from sector experts, political parties, activists and the public across the state. He had also said that the SoP will become a model that can be followed not only by Tamil Nadu but also by other states. </p><p>The government wants the SOP to be exhaustive so that Karur-like incidents don’t recur and wants to consult all political parties that are recognised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and those who are represented in Parliament and in the state assembly. </p><p>“The meeting will elicit views from all participants and frame the SOP,” a senior government official said. </p><p>After the meeting, the government is likely to place the draft SOP before the bench of Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan by November 11. The court had last week said that if the government does not comply with the orders, the court said it would direct that applications seeking permission for political meetings must be made 10 days in advance and the police must act on them at least three days before the event. </p><p>TVK filed the petition after having been aggrieved by “onerous” conditions imposed by the police for the party’s campaign meetings. After the Karur tragedy, the government announced that it won’t grant fresh permission for conduct of political parties till the SOP is framed. </p>