The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Traffic movement affected as BJP takes out rally

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 08, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Traffic movement affected as BJP takes out rally

Staff Reporter

Roads in central parts of the city were packed with people and vehicles

— PhotoS: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

AFTER THE SHOW: Plastic waste found strewn on Cubbon Park premises (top), and vehicles in which party workers arrived for the Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: It was anything but a holiday on the main roads of the central parts of Bangalore on Sunday. High political drama, high-voltage speeches and a rally against an alliance gone sour were all tuned to have the maximum impact on the city’s roads. Traffic was disrupted, and the roads were packed with people and vehicles as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s rally made its way from Race Course Road to Mahatma Gandhi statue.

While the BJP leaders came in a procession from former Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s official residence on Race Course Road, the party workers arrived at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in groups from various routes. All roads leading to the Mahatma Gandhi statue were closed for traffic. Squatting in front of the statue, the workers listened to their leaders who made their speeches from a makeshift mobile stage.

For vehicles which usually whizzed past lean Sunday traffic, today was a virtual speed-breaker. They crawled to a snail’s pace on St. Mark’s Road which had been turned a two-way between Cash Pharmacy Circle and Anil Kumble Circle. The traffic moving towards Kempegowda Bus Stand and beyond was diverted along Cubbon Road.

On Cubbon Road, the scene was no different. With vehicles parked near the Minsk Square, the speed of the moving traffic was further reduced. Compounding the road-users problems were the vans and autorickshaws carrying rally participants, vehicles that often stopped near the Minsk Square.

Traffic movement was also affected on the stretch of road between Shivaji Nagar and Balekundri Circle, on Mahatma Gandhi Road between Trinity Circle and Anil Kumble Circle; on Residency Road and Richmond Road.

The police had banned movement of traffic on Queen’s Road, on Kasturba Road between Vittal Mallya Junction and Mahatma Gandhi Statue, on a stretch of Lavelle Road and on Mahatma Gandhi Road between Anil Kumble Circle and Mahatma Gandhi statue.

Traffic returned to normality only around 4 p.m.

Many buses and other four-wheelers carrying participants from different parts of the State were parked along several roads leading to Cubbon Park. Vehicles were parked on the road running parallel to Queen’s Road; on the Cubbon Park road to Bal Bhavan; and near the Central Public Library.

Plastic cups and plates were strewn all across the Cubbon Park premises, where the participants had been served food. Finally, when the rally ended, these wastes stood as proof of a big turnout. Elsewhere in the city, BJP hoardings had sprung up in quick time, carrying slogans in protest against the failure of its coalition partner to hand over power as agreed upon 20 months ago.

A posse of policemen and officers was at the venue of the rally from early morning. Still, the men in khakhi had a tough time preventing people from blocking roads connecting Queen’s Road. The police also prevented the BJP from taking out a rally from Mahatma Gandhi statue to Raj Bhavan. Instead, a group of BJP leaders, led by Mr. Yediyurappa, was allowed to go to Raj Bhavan to submit the letter withdrawing support to Janata Dal (Secular)-led Government.

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