Professor Alok Kumar, a resident of Kumhrar area in the city, had a tiresome day because of the mega rally on Sunday. It took him around two hours to reach his home in Kumhrar area while he was on his way back from Danapur. On a normal day, Alok claimed, he would have covered the distance in just an hour's time.

"Section 144 of CrPC should have been clamped in the whole city," Alok said. "Residents would have then remained indoors. They would not have ventured out and, in the process, saved themselves from hassles in reaching their destination. Only those coming to take part in the rally would have been seen on the roads."

Alok, an assistant professor at the Jehanabad-based B.Ed college, had a holiday on Sunday but said it was totally wasted because of the rally.

"At a time when north Bihar has been badly hit because of the flood, the parties are organising rallies to gain popularity," Alok sad. "Someone should tell them they would have gained greater popularity had they spent the amount they did on the rally on flood-hit victims instead. The poor people would have blessed them."

Alok was supposed to take his mother to hospital for a check-up but had to cancel plans after he got a taste of the poor traffic system on Sunday. Several residents, who were caught in a similar situation, vented their ire. Sri Krishnapuri resident Yogendra Kumar reached Nala Road after around 2-and-a-half hours, as he had to take several detours owing to the jam and diversions. "I was heading towards Dak Bungalow from Sri Krishnapuri by taking the main road but I came back as I found a huge jam there," Yogendra, a businessman, said. "I then entered TNT Colony and reached the Income-Tax roundabout but over there I had to wait for around 20 minutes because of the juloos (procession) taken out by RJD supporters. Somehow, I managed to crawl through in my car and headed towards Karbighaiya bridge before finally reaching Nala Road by crossing the Rajendra Nagar bridge. What would have been a half-an-hour journey took around two-and-half hours."

He said he was not opposed to rallies but there should have been a system in place. "Every party - be it the RJD, BJP or JDU - has the right to organise rallies but the authorities concerned should not allow rallies in the heart of the city. Rather, rallies should be confined to the outskirts of the city so that the city life is not affected."

Mallikarjun Arale, a Bakerganj resident, faced problems reaching his destination at Daroga Rai Path. "I am a member of the Maharashtra Mandal, which is organising seven-day Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Today, it took me around an hour to reach Maharashtra Mandal, as RJD supporters thronged both sides of one-way roads. Today's morning puja was over by the time we reached," said Arale. His companion Sanjay Bhosle said: "We were supposed to bring cooking gas today for preparation of bhog but dropped the plan seeing the rally."

Those who remained indoors chose to either watch live coverage of the rally on television or flipped movie channels. "I enjoyed watching RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap playing the conch shell. I also didn't know that Rabri could speak at length. I thoroughly enjoyed live coverage of the rally," said Preeti Jaiswal, a Boring Road resident.