All for the sake of power

All for the sake of power
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The powerless public representatives held Bangalore for ransom on Wednesday. Why? All for power.
A rally by the BJP on MG Road sealed traffic movement for about 6 hours on Cubbon Road, MG Road, Link Road, Queen’s Road, Cunningham Road and Airport Road. The backlash was felt in surrounding areas too.
In one of the worst traffic snarls in the recent past, city central areas were chocked with vehicles and the police stood helpless, watching more than 25,000 partymen take over the streets. Stranded commuters could do nothing but helplessly grumble. All arterial roads in the central area were gridlocked from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Naturally, it was impossible for traffic policemen to manage the rallyists and vehicles at a time.
Till 12 noon, half of the stadium road was open for traffic. However, once activists started gathering at the Mahatma Gandhi statue, police had to restrict vehicular movement on both sides of the road. Pressure started from this area and vehicles piled up at almost all junctions. “We used King’s Road inside the Cubbon Road, which came as a saviour. Traffic was allowed on that road for almost four hours. But we could do little to avoid jams at many other junctions as the protest meeting continued until their national leaders arrived,’’ traffic officials said. Party workers entered the city from all sides. At least 100 buses and countless cars and SUVs entered the city in the afternoon. “We did not know the number of people attending the rally. Though it didn’t have any effect on roads in the central parts, all major signal junctions were hit,’’ the officer added. Even after the meeting concluded, half of the work was still to be done for the traffic police. There was total chaos when the activists joined the peak hour traffic on all roads. Motorists returning home had to bear the long waiting period at signals.