Siddaramaiah's birthday event leads to traffic congestion for miles in Davanagere. Watch

Congress stalwart and former CM Siddaramaiah's birthday bash on Wednesday led to six-kilometre-long traffic congestions in Davanagere district, where the party's national leader Rahul Gandhi is set to address the public.

Published on: Aug 3, 2022, 12:32:50 IST

By Yamini C S | Edited by Poulomi Ghosh

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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.

Traffic on the Pune - Bengaluru highway in the Davanagere district amid celebrations of Siddaramaiah's 75th birthday. (Image source: Screengrab of ANI video/Twitter)

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.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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