Commuters were stranded in traffic on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway at the Ghazipur border Wednesday morning after scores of Congress workers gathered at the spot, defying heavy barricading and security meant to stop Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi from visiting Sambhal. Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when a Mughal-era mosque was surveyed on court orders following claims that a temple previously stood at the site. Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near the 16th-Century Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel. Four people were killed in the violence. The Ghaziabad Police deployed at least 200 police personnel on the six-lane expressway to stop the Congress convoy and closed two lanes going towards Hapur and Moradabad. “We closed both lanes because we didn’t know which side the Congress convoy would be coming from,” said DCP, Trans-Hindon, Ghaziabad, Nimish Patil. Patil also said traffic at Delhi-Meerut Expressway was diverted towards Akshardham, Ghazipur, and Noida. “People were stranded in the traffic for over two hours,” added the DCP. The route leading to Mohan Nagar also witnessed a traffic snarl for nearly 20 minutes, leaving commuters angry and frustrated. At one point, a Congress worker sloganeering at the site got into an argument with a commuter as his car slightly hit the former. The party worker stood in front of the blue Maruti Brezza even as the car kept moving, screaming at him and telling others ‘how the man was trying to kill him’. Soon, a police team arrived and allowed the car driver passage to move. “We are normal people going for our daily work,” said Naveen Rastogi, who was among those stuck in traffic. Rastogi, who works at a private firm in Noida, said he had been stranded for over an hour and his customer had been continuously calling him. “I am going to lose my client today.” Even before 10 am, traffic was slower than normal on the Expressway as one of the lanes was barricaded. The moment Gandhi’s convoy with eight escorts arrived at the spot, the two lanes were completely blocked. A few party leaders also tried to jump off the barricade and got into a scuffle with the police personnel. Rahul Gandhi could be seen occasionally stepping out of his car to ask party workers if they could succeed in getting permission from officials. At 12.30 pm, he emerged from the sunroof of his grey Innova car, holding a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution, and said the Ghaziabad Police isn’t letting him go despite multiple requests. “It is my constitutional right as the Leader of the Opposition. I am ready to go alone or even be accompanied by the police,” he said. Around 1.30 pm, after Gandhi returned to Delhi, the barricades were opened and commuters were signalled to move. Many commuters, however, were caught unawares as they had left their vehicles parked on the road and stepped out for a breather. An elderly couple heading to Noida, at the front of the line, could be seen frantically looking for their driver as others kept honking at them to move forward. “Our driver has gone to eat. He is not answering his call. We cannot drive, now people are giving us dirty looks,” said Kamal Rastogi, 61.
