DAVANGERE: Traffic came to a standstill on a 20-km stretch of the Davanagere-Harihara NH-48 for several hours, as lakhs of supporters of the former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah made their way from across the state, to his 75th birthday bash at Shyamanuru Palace Grounds here on Wednesday. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was also stuck in traffic until the police managed to clear a route for his convoy.
Besides the programme venue being jam-packed, an equal number of supporters, including senior party leaders, and the general public too struggled as the traffic came to a standstill. Buses plying on the stretch had to wait for several hours. A few emergency service vehicles were also hit, before being allowed to move out from another lane. Meanwhile, a few party workers raised slogans against the BJP government, accusing it of ‘deliberately’ causing the traffic jam.