Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was in Davanagere to greet Opposition leader Siddaramaiah on his 75th birthday on Wednesday, was stuck in traffic briefly as lakhs of people descended onto the roads to join in the celebrations. The Bengaluru-Pune highway witnessed huge traffic jams as people from across the state reached the venue. It is estimated that 4 lakh people attended the celebration, severely affecting vehicular movement on the national highway. The stretch also witnessed traffic jams up to 6 kilometres in the surrounding areas of Davanagere.
Though party workers and authorities tried to create a freeway for Rahul Gandhi's convoy, due to heavy movement of people and vehicles, he was caught in the traffic jam. When his car was stopped, Congress workers ran towards his vehicle and tried to wish and talk to him. With the help of police, the organisers managed to clear the jam and make way for Rahul Gandhi's convoy.
#WATCH | Karnataka: Traffic snarls as long as 6km on Pune-Bengaluru highway in Davanagere dist as thousands gather for the birthday celebration of Former Karnataka CM & Congress leader Siddaramaiah pic.twitter.com/CiSqcE6ink
— ANI (@ANI) August 3, 2022
One Congress worker who was coming to Davanagere from Mudhol in Bagalkot died in a road accident. He has been identified as Prakash Badiger
Rahul Gandhi arrived in Karnataka on Tuesday night to take part in the birthday celebrations of Siddaramaiah. According to party sources, it is a rare phenomenon in Congress party where local leaders are glorified.
Addressing Siddaramaiah’s birthday event in Davanagere, Rahul sounded the poll bugle for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections and said that the Congress will fight under a collective leadership. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are considered the front-runners for Chief Minister's post in the event of Congress coming to power after Assembly elections, due in April-May next year, and their camps have been pushing their candidature.
"Today, I was happy to see Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar hugging each other on the stage," Rahul Gandhi said at the event, after Shivakumar felicitated Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister, on his 75th birthday and hugged him in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi said Shivakumar has done tremendous work for the Congress organisation.
When the Congress comes to power, it will give a "clean and honest" government which will work for the future of the State and it will not spread hatred, Gandhi said.