Ludhiana West bypoll: AAP roadshow paralyses main arteries for 4 hours

The roadshow, which witnessed the presence of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, caused severe traffic disruption in prominent areas including Ferozepur Road, Ghumar Mandi, Model Town, and Saggu Chowk

Vehicular movement across several major roads in the city came to a standstill on Friday as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a massive roadshow ahead of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora’s nomination filing for the Ludhiana West byelection.

Long queues of vehicles could be seen as commuters remained stranded for hours during the roadshow. (Gurpreet Singh / HT)

The roadshow, which witnessed the presence of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, caused severe traffic disruption in prominent areas including Ferozepur Road, Ghumar Mandi, Model Town, and Saggu Chowk. Commuters were left stranded for hours as roads remained blocked for nearly four hours due to the rally procession and heavy police deployment.

Long traffic jams were reported in adjoining localities as well, with emergency vehicles and public transport also facing significant delays. Business establishments in the area reported reduced footfall, while residents expressed frustration over the lack of traffic management.

While the roadshow drew large crowds of supporters, the inconvenience caused to the public sparked criticism from locals. Many questioned the need for such large-scale political gatherings during peak city hours.

Jasnoor Singh, resident of Bhai Randhir Singh said, “I had been crossing Verka plant chowk on Ferozepur road around 12.30 pm and it was long traffic jam and vehicles were been asked to divert through South City Road which is very long distance as whole city was crippled with traffic jam. I request the authorities either to give permission for this rally only at a few places so that national highways should be closed for political rallies.”

Deepak Kumar, another city resident, said, “It took three hours to reach Ghumar Mandi from Model Town as majority of the roads were blocked as police officials have installed barricades at different chowks and commuters were not even allowed to cross the roads.”

Police officials confirmed that traffic diversions had been planned but admitted that the turnout was larger than expected, which led to prolonged congestion.

Gurpreet Kaur Purewal, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) traffic said, “Proper route plan had been circulated before the event and traffic cops have been deployed to streamline the traffic.”