Lotus all set to bloom in south India

The lotus will bloom at 12 noon on Monday at the footsteps of the Vidhan Soudha when B S Yeddyurappa takes oath as chief minister of Karnataka. After month-long drama and heavy politicking, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to form its first government in south India.

So what can we expect? For starters one can expect a manic Monday when a sea of humanity descends upon Bangalore to witness the swearing-in ceremony. Both Intelligence Bureau and police sources said they were expecting a crowd of around 70,000 to witness the programme.

Police say that reports available to them suggest that at least 60,000 will be BJP supporters while the rest will be from the Janata Dal-Secular.

BJP sources that the party's supporters from various parts of the state will come into the city in at least 400 buses. The supporters are expected to arrive at around 10 am and will then proceed towards Vidhan Soudha in which the state assembly is housed.

The city traffic is bound to be thrown out of gear and traffic jams will be the order of the day. Not to mention that Bangalore already has the worst-managed traffic in Asia. Police say the Bellary road, Yeshwanthpur area and the lanes around Raj Bhavan and Vidhan Soudha should be avoided for most part of the day. The crowd is expected to clear out only by around 4 pm, following which life should return to normal.

The Vidhan Soudha lawns do not have the capacity to house such a large number of people. Earlier, most of the people used to stand in the high court premises and watch the proceedings, but this year that would not be possible.

Only recently, the high court was fenced and gates put up to prevent entry of general public. This would mean that most of the supporters will be on the roads watching proceedings, thus making it impossible for any sort of traffic to move.

Police say they have over 170 police personnel to man traffic. Moreover, they will have an additional headache -- senior leaders like L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Yeshwant Sinha are expected to witness the coronation on Monday.