Thanjavur: Students of various colleges, including considerable number of girls, participated in the fast held in front of the head post office here for the second successive day today urging the Central Government to bring in an ordinance to ensure the conduct of Jallikattu.

The supporters voluntarily gathered in large numbers and took part in the agitation, thanks to the messages circulated through the social media.

The agitation, which started with barely 500 students taking part yesterday, swelled to over 2,000 today. The students wanted the Centre to bring in an ordinance to ensure the conduct of jallikattu and demanded that PETA (People for Ethical Treatment for Animals) be banned in India. “The State Government must initiate legal steps in the Supreme Court to overturn the ban and amend the PCA to exclude bulls,” they said.

The students denied allegation that they were instigated by some political parties. They claimed that their agitations had no political backup but they were voluntarily participating in the protests.

“I can categorically tell you that there is no political backup to our agitation. We have gathered here on our own following the circulation of messages through the social media,” said K Palanivel, student of Rajah Serfoji Government Arts College, Thanjavur.

“We have no political colour. We will not allow any political party to meddle with our agitation,” said V. Shanthi, student of a private engineering college in Thanjavur.

To prove their claim that their agitation had no political backup, they pointed out that the agitating students in Tiruchi and Thiruvannamalai chased away former Ministers and DMK District Secretaries K.N. Nehru and E.V. Velu when they came to the venue to extend their support.

Meanwhile, defying the Supreme Court order, local residents at Thirukkanur Patti near here organised Jallikattu event, in which 23 bulls and 300 bull-tamers participated. However, no case was registered.