It was a black Monday as a Janata Dal-Secular rally in Bengaluru wrecked havoc for motorists on the streets. People were stranded on the streets for over five hours thanks to the JD-S convention which was held at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Monday.
The worst hit were the parents who waited endlessly for their children to return home. Most children in Bengaluru finished school by 1600 hrs reached home only at 2200 hrs. Those heading to the airport gave up hope and several people missed their flights due to the chaotic traffic.
Slow moving traffic was witnessed since morning and as the convention commenced, the situation got worse. Nearly 100 buses from different parts of the state were brought in to Bengaluru, carrying people for the convention.
The Bengaluru traffic police was clearly caught napping. Apart from the buses that came into the city, the traffic police even permitted 1000 other vehicles to come into the city in connection with the rally.
At first the chaos was restricted to the areas around the Palace Grounds, but towards the evening the situation turned worse as the surrounding ring roads began to fill up with slow-moving vehicles.
Adding to the madness was a meaningless fight of some of the JD-S workers who got into an argument with former minister and leader, Chennigappa, which resulted in the former minister getting thrashed by his own party men.
Even at 2330 hrs people were seen on the roads trying to flag down public transport. Most buses had stopped plying on the roads and this left several office goers in a major spot of bother. At the end of it people just gave up and started to walk.
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