Congress protest, BJP roadshow affect traffic in central Delhi

Aside from the protests and the roadshow in central Delhi, the rain as well as the ongoing Kanwar Yatra also hindered traffic movement in parts of Delhi, keeping nearly 2,200 traffic personnel busy throughout the day.

Vehicular traffic was severely affected in several parts of central Delhi on Thursday owing to the restrictions imposed by Delhi traffic police in view of protests by Congress leaders against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning party president Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case, as well as a roadshow by hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in the evening to celebrate their candidate Droupadi Murmu being elected President of the country.

Congress supporters raise slogans during a protest against ED summons to Sonia Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case, in New Delhi.  (ANI Photo)

Aside from the protests and the roadshow in central Delhi, the rain as well as the ongoing Kanwar Yatra also hindered traffic movement in parts of Delhi, keeping nearly 2,200 traffic personnel busy throughout the day.

Senior police officers said after they were informed about the Congress protest, advisories were posted on Wednesday evening itself on social media, informing motorists about the traffic arrangements that would be in place in central Delhi.

For nearly five hours on Thursday, many senior Congress leaders, including MPs, and party workers took out street protests and even blocked a couple of trains for a brief period near Shivaji Bridge railway station. Many leaders courted arrest outside the party headquarters, while four protesters were arrested from the railway tracks and booked for unauthorised access and obstructing railway operations, the police said.

“Nearly 20 Congress supporters came on to the tracks in front of the New Delhi Varanasi Express and a DMU around 12.45pm. Both trains were already waiting at the Shivaji Bridge for clearance. Seeing the police, they (protesters) scattered before we could intervene. However, four persons were arrested,” said deputy commissioner of police (railways) Harendra Kumar Singh.

Police said around 11am, a large number of Congress workers started gathering at various locations such as RML Hospital, Akbar Road, Maulana Azad Road, Man Singh Road, and Tolstoy Marg for the protest. The protesters were warned about the prohibitory orders in force and requested to disperse. “They did not heed us and were stopped and detained. A total of 349 functionaries of the Congress party, including 56 MPs were detained from different places under Section 65 DP Act to maintain public order. All of them were released later,” a statement from the police said.

Ahead of Gandhi’s appearance before the ED, around 8am, the Delhi Police deployed a huge force and barricaded the entire stretch between her residence on Akbar Road and the ED office.

The restrictions during the morning peak hours inconvenienced motorists, mostly office-goers, who were caught in jams on arterial roads connecting central Delhi with other parts of Delhi-NCR.

Some of the arterial roads that witnessed heavy traffic were Vikas Marg, ITO, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Bhairon Marg-Ring Road junction, Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) Flyway, Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road, Sarai Kale Khan, India Gate circle, Dhaula Kuan, Barapullah elevated corridor and Aurobindo Marg.

Commuters used social media to report the snarls and the inconvenience caused.

A Twitter user, Naveen Kapoor tweeted, “@dtptraffic traffic snarls Sunehri Bagh road,” and also tagged a photograph showing piling up of vehicles on the road.

Another Twitter user with the handle Rajatbabu tweeted, “@dtptraffic traffic is not moving near Rail Bhavan, Shastri Bhawan, Parliament.”

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Aalap Patel said, “Information regarding traffic restrictions and names of the affected roads were disseminated through newspapers, social media, and announcements on FM radio on Wednesday evening. Motorists who were still unaware of the restrictions were guided by our traffic personnel. The arrangements for Congress agitation began at 8am and continued till 3.30pm. For the BJP’s roadshow, our personnel remained on the streets till 10pm.”

The BJP’s roadshow, led by Delhi leaders, started around 7pm from the Delhi BJP office on Pandit Pant Marg and continued till Rajpath via Rafi Marg.