Congress workers block traffic in Noida to garland Babbar

Babbar, who is the president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, was on his way to Aligarh from New Delhi

Traffic was choked on the Noida link road near Sector 15A and Film City after hundreds of Congress workers gathered there to welcome actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar to the city.

The traffic jam on the Noida link road near Sector 15A and Film City on Thursday afternoon.

Babbar, who is the president of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, was on his way to Aligarh from New Delhi. He reached Noida around 12.40pm while his party workers were waiting for him on the road from 12pm, choking traffic for over an hour.

When he finally arrived, party workers were seen jostling one another in an effort to garland the party state chief. Once Babbar moved on, the congestion was cleared by the traffic personnel within 10 minutes.

The jam on the link road also caused snarls on the Delhi-Noida-Direct Flyway and Noida-Greater Noida Expressway as some party workers had gathered near Apeejay School to greet their chief.

“The vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace as Congress workers had taken over the stretch from Sector 15A to Film City. It was difficult for traffic personnel to control the crowd,” said Tarun Bhattanagar , a software engineer with Accenture.

“Traffic was affected as workers had taken over the stretch. We tried to ensure that vehicles kept moving,” said traffic inspector Layak Singh.

Pawan Sharma, spokesperson,Congress, Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “ The area we had chosen is congested every day. Traffic personnel were there and managed to keep the traffic moving. They had made arrangements and remained on duty. We had informed them in advance about our programme.”