As thousands of vehicles started arriving at Davangere ferrying people from various districts of the State to the birthday event of Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, traffic jams lasting hours were witnessed at various junctions.
There were jams within the city and also on the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway with vehicles lining up for kilometres. Congestion lasted for about 12 hours in some stretches.
Apart from the 1,500 buses hired for the event by the organising committee, thousands of vehicles, including cars, SUVs, MUVs, and mini buses from across the State, reached the city from different directions leading to traffic chaos. Many leaders scheduled to participate in the event were also stuck for hours.
The unprecedented crowd also delayed the arrival of former AICC president Rahul Gandhi and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar to the venue located off the Pune- Bengaluru NH.
As the NH between Davangere and Harihar witnessed people arriving in lakhs, Mr. Gandhi had to take a circumventing route to reach Shamanur Palace Ground.
One of the traffic officials told this correspondent that the traffic jam had started as early as 6 a.m. as more and more vehicles began arriving from different routes to the venue.
The police had to stop vehicles at a distance of few kilometres from the venue, forcing people to walk several kilometres in the drizzle.
