Bharat Jodo Yatra set to enter Ghaziabad today, cops announce traffic diversions

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will resume from Delhi on Tuesday morning and will cover about 10kms in the national capital and then arrive in Loni. From there, it will proceed towards Baghpat. The route in Loni will be the yatra’s first entry into the state of UP

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will enter Ghaziabad’s Loni on Tuesday morning and will proceed to nearby Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh.

Ghaziabad police officers monitor a road at Loni on Monday. (Sakib Ali/ HT)

Ghaziabad police on Monday said that they have made arrangements for the rally and there will be sufficient deployment of personnel, adding that traffic diversions will be in place to ensure a smooth flow of people participating in the yatra.

As part of the arrangements, Ghaziabad police said that they will deploy about 1,500 personnel, while police personnel will also be posted at the high-rise buildings to keep a check on troublemakers.

“Apart from the personnel, we have also roped in drones for better surveillance of sensitive areas along the route of the yatra. The distance of the yatra in Ghaziabad will be about 18 kilometres and about one-third of it will be afoot and rest in vehicles,” said Iraj Raja, deputy commissioner of police, Ghaziabad (rural).

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will resume from Delhi on Tuesday morning and will cover about 10kms in the national capital and then arrive in Loni. From there, it will proceed towards Baghpat. The route in Loni will be the yatra’s first entry into the state of UP.

In the wake of the yatra, the Ghaziabad traffic police have also announced diversions on Tuesday.

Police said that vehicles, including two-wheelers, cars, autos etc., will be barred from entering the main Loni Road from Delhi. These vehicles will take the route from Tulsi Niketan, Bhopra and proceed to their respective destinations.

Heavy vehicles coming from Baghpat to Ghaziabad and Delhi will have to take the route through the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE). Likewise, all heavy vehicles proceeding to Baghpat will have to take the EPE from Duhai intersection, police added.

“The diversions will be in place till 6pm or till the end of the yatra on Tuesday. The stretch of the yatra will be from Delhi-Loni border to Loni-Baghpat border in Ghaziabad,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).

According to plans shared by the district functionaries of the Congress, the yatra will cover Mavi Kalan, Sisana and Saroorpur in Baghpat district on January 4, and will pass through Elam, Kandhla and Unchagaon in Shamli on January 5.

“The party workers are geared up for the yatra and people from different areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) will reach Loni on Tuesday. The gathering will be massive. Our leader Rahul Gandhi will lead the yatra and other Congress functionaries are also expected to join. This will be the second leg of the yatra,” said Lokesh Chaudhary, Ghaziabad city president of the Congress.

Senior Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Nasimuddin Siddiqui were in Ghaziabad on December 27, to brief the media about the second leg of the yatra.

“Opposition leaders have been invited by Rahul Gandhi and we have also been asked to get in touch with them. There are many small and big parties in UP and we are in touch with their leaders and they have been requested to join the rally. Apart from political leaders, there are many eminent personalities who have expressed their desire to join the rally,” Khurshid had said in a press briefing in Ghaziabad.

Meanwhile, former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday offered his best wishes to Rahul Gandhi for the Bharat Jodo Yatra and said that it will preserve the inclusive culture of the country.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday also tweeted and sent her best wishes to Rahul Gandhi and thanked him for inviting her to join the yatra.