The Davanagere district battled with heavy traffic for miles on Wednesday as senior Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah celebrated his 75th birthday with thousands of loyalists coming on the streets.
News agency ANI reported that traffic snarls for as long as six kilometres were seen on the Pune - Bengaluru highway in the Davanagere district as people celebrated the Congress stalwart's birthday.
ANI reported that the party's national leader Rahul Gandhi is set to attend the event on Wednesday. Rahul Gandhi is reportedly on a visit to Karnataka to attend the party's political affairs committee meeting on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming 2023 assembly polls. He will also be visiting the Murugarajendra Mutt, a prominent Lingayat seminary in the region, during the visit.
Siddaramaiah's birthday bash, which will be celebrated throughout August in various parts of the state, triggered controversy in the Congress' Karnataka unit over the CM post. Both the leaders of opposition -- Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka state party president D K Shivakumar -- nurture ambitions over the chief ministerial post according to reports, which has split the party into two camps.
{{/usCountry}}Siddaramaiah's birthday bash, which will be celebrated throughout August in various parts of the state, triggered controversy in the Congress' Karnataka unit over the CM post. Both the leaders of opposition -- Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka state party president D K Shivakumar -- nurture ambitions over the chief ministerial post according to reports, which has split the party into two camps.
{{/usCountry}}The massive convention over Siddaramaiah's birthday, called ‘Siddaramotsava’, is set to project Siddaramaiah and his contributions, which is being seen as an attempt to send a message to the party high command ahead of polls. Siddaramaiah served as Karnataka's CM from 2013 to 2018.
Residents of Davanagere took to social media to express frustration at the slow vehicular movement caused by the celebrations, coupled with rain, with one user writing, “Dear @RahulGandhi. You are visiting Davanagere to address the people & we have to face this heavy traffic jam on NH48. So far moved about 200 mtrs in 1 hour. Is there anything you can do to not inconvenience citizens like this? Honest request.”
More than 325 buses of the Northwest Karnataka Road Transport Corporation were booked for the birthday bash program in Davangere, till Sunday. ANi reported that some North-western districts will see huge traffic disturbances as hundreds of buses will be travelling.