Delhi's traffic police have announced sweeping traffic restrictions across central Delhi for Sunday, November 1, when the opposition INDIA bloc will hold a rally at Ramlila Maidan and a march from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction to the venue.
The restrictions will remain in force from 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening, and commuters have been warned to expect congestion on several major roads in the heart of the capital, with diversions at key intersections and additional personnel deployed to keep vehicles moving.
According to the Delhi Traffic Police, diversions may be enforced at Netaji Subhash Marg T-point, Rajghat, Delhi Gate, ITO A-point, Ajmeri Gate red light, Ranjeet Singh Flyover, Jhandewalan roundabout, Turkman Gate and Mirdard Chowk, depending on the traffic situation through the day.
Commuters are likely to face heavy congestion on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg between ITO and Delhi Gate, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg between Rajghat and Ajmeri Gate, Aruna Asaf Ali Road, Minto Road, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road and Barakhamba Road, as well as on stretches around Kamla Market and Hamdard Chowk. Bus movement on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, the Rajghat-Jawaharlal Nehru Marg stretch, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road and Minto Road may also be regulated.
Additional traffic personnel will be deployed across the Central Range to regulate vehicular movement, guide commuters to designated parking areas and prevent congestion around the venue. A separate passage will be provided near Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital for emergency vehicles, so that ambulances and other emergency traffic can move even while restrictions are in place.
Parking arrangements have been made at the railway parking area opposite the hospital, at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation parking lots and at Rajghat.
Passengers travelling to New Delhi Railway Station have been advised to plan their journeys in advance. Those approaching the station from the Desh Bandhu Gupta Road side can take Chelmsford Road, Connaught Place's Outer Circle, Minto Road and Bhavbhuti Marg. Commuters coming from east Delhi can use ITO, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and Bhavbhuti Marg to reach the station.
The advisory is aimed at preventing passengers from missing trains because of diversions and slow-moving traffic near the rally route.
The rally is the latest chapter in the opposition's campaign against alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls. The INDIA bloc, formally the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, has been pressing for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what it calls vote theft through the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
The bloc has described its November 1 gathering as a public impeachment of the Chief Election Commissioner, and its leaders have said the rally will press the demand that the revision exercise be scrutinised and that the Election Commission answer the opposition's charges.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi announced that the opposition parties would take out a Chalo Dilli march from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction to Ramlila Maidan at noon on November 1. In a post on social media, he invited people to join the march, writing that supporters should gather at the Connaught Place Minto Road junction and walk via Ajmeri Gate to Ramlila Maidan.
The march will culminate at Ramlila Maidan, where the rally is scheduled to be held. Delhi Police sources, however, have said that no permission had been sought for taking out a march from Connaught Place, and that MPs and political leaders could travel in their private vehicles to the Constitution Club and to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita are in force across the New Delhi area, including near the Election Commission of India office, and elaborate security arrangements are being put in place at Ramlila Maidan.
The timing of the rally has also become entangled with the capital's winter pollution-control measures. From November 1, the Delhi government's winter action plan comes into force, and under it, petrol and diesel vehicles registered outside Delhi that do not meet Bharat Stage-VI emission standards will be barred from entering the capital.
The restrictions will remain in force until early next year, with CNG and electric vehicles, BS-VI-compliant vehicles and specified emergency and essential-service vehicles exempt. The Delhi government has deployed 39 enforcement teams at 13 major border checkpoints and toll plazas to ensure compliance, and the transport minister has ruled out exemptions.
Traders' bodies have warned that the combination of the rally and the vehicle curbs could disrupt business in nearly 20 major markets around Ramlila Maidan. The Chamber of Trade and Industry has urged the Congress leadership to postpone the rally until after Diwali, arguing that traffic diversions and the large gathering could hurt trade, and has estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 buses could bring supporters to the rally, in addition to private vehicles.
Gandhi has indicated that the rally will go ahead. Reports have put the expected turnout at the Ramlila Maidan gathering at around 60,000 to 70,000 people.
The rally also follows a week of sparring between the government and the opposition over the Election Commission. Home Minister Amit Shah has challenged the INDIA bloc to debate the issue in Parliament rather than on the street, while the opposition has said it will take its case to the people.
The Election Commission, for its part, has maintained that the special intensive revision is a routine exercise to clean up the rolls, and the Supreme Court has separately asked the poll body to examine bulk claims and take corrective steps in Uttar Pradesh's revision exercise.
For Delhi's commuters, the practical message from the traffic police is simple: avoid central Delhi on Sunday afternoon if possible, use the Metro where feasible, and follow the diversions and the directions of personnel on the ground.
With a march, a rally, border vehicle checks and winter pollution curbs all landing on the same day, November 1 is set to be one of the capital's most congested Sundays of the season, and the authorities are hoping that advance planning by commuters will keep the disruption manageable.
Ramlila Maidan itself has long been one of Delhi's best-known venues for large public gatherings, and its central location is precisely why traffic arrangements around it matter so much. The ground sits within a short distance of Old Delhi's busiest commercial streets, the New Delhi Railway Station and several Metro stations, which means that any major rally there ripples outward across the city's transport network.
Police have therefore asked commuters heading to the railway station, to hospitals in the area and to markets in central Delhi to build extra time into their journeys and to use public transport wherever possible, since parking near the venue will be limited and several approach roads will be diverted at short notice through the day.
(Reporting based on The Hindu and Deccan Herald.)