Behind the dais from where megastar Chiranjeevi is slated to turn into a politician on Tuesday, sat a few hundred men in a sombre mood.

Comprising men and women, many with tonsured heads, they form the 3000-odd volunteers.

On Monday evening, on the eve of the political meeting, they were listening attentively to a team leader who told them how to manage and herd the crowd into the 40 enclosures that have been created to accommodate about four lakh people. From the look on their faces, it was clear that crowd management was the uppermost concern in their minds.

How fragile the situation can turn in a matter of seconds was made clear when Pawan Kalyan, filmstar and the younger brother of Chiranjeevi, made an appearance wearing a dhoti, a shirt and barefoot.

Despite the best efforts of his securitymen to form a cordon around him, many of the hundreds of onlookers whistled, raised slogans and gatecrashed to mob him.

"Yes, managing the crowd on Tuesday will be a major concern and we are according it top priority," said P Rajesh, a software engineer from Hyderabad who is part of about 150 youngsters from the state capital going by the name ‘the do it' volunteers.

According to Allu Arvind, his brother-in-law and star of the event insisted on coming to the temple town by regular commercial flight.

However, in case a traffic jam occurs enroute, a helicopter has been kept as standby to ferry him from the airport to the venue.

The organisers claimed that traffic arrangements for Tuesday have been made in such a manner that pilgrims descending on Tirupati for darshan will not be affected in any manner.

The meeting itself, scheduled from 4 pm to 7 pm, will include a cultural programme lasting about one hour while another hour has been earmarked for Chiranjeevi to speak.

"All other details, including the name of the party, its agenda and any star entrants to the party will be unveiled on Tuesday," Arvind said.

According to Arvind, the meeting at any cost would be over by 7 pm. "We want to ensure that those people who come to the meeting from the nearby districts are able to reach their homes by nightfall," he said.

However, according to sources, another reason for them to stick to a deadline is to ensure that Chiranjeevi is able to leave the temple town by Tuesday itself.

In order to prevent traffic jams due to sudden influx of people for the meeting, the authorities have decided to curtail all train services at Renigunta itself and not allow it into Tirupati.

With the Chandragiri-Renigunta bypass slated to be closed because of its proximity to the meeting, the adjoining arterial roads would be clogged with traffic because of which the authorities have made arrangements to ensure that all vehicles coming for the meeting would be allowed into the city in a single line.

The eight-feet high huge dais, comprising big pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, B R Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and a digital screen at the centre, attracted hundreds of people.

Nine digital screens have been installed at strategic places for the crowd to listen to a larger-than-life Chiranjeevi. And in a display of some order unlike many political meetings, first aid clinics, fire engines and water packets are being arranged for the public.

Over 2,500 security personnel including bomb disposal squads and dog squads have been pressed into service to maintain order.

As dusk set in on Monday, the crowds still thronged the meeting venue and a huge air of expectation enveloped the area.

"Tomorrow, our annaiah will launch a movement for social justice," said G Arun Kumar, a physically challenged person from Khammam district who claimed that Pawan Kalyan has promised him a job.

Among the enclosures at the venue are exclusive ones for women and the physically challenged. Many, like Arun Kumar, are hoping that Tuesday will usher in a new dawn and change the political equation in the state forever.