Vehicles stuck in a massive congestion near Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Monday. Prashant Mitra
Marathon protests by various outfits, including political parties, near Raj Bhavan on Monday morning choked most roads in the Kutchery area of the capital till late afternoon, inconveniencing thousands of daily commuters.
While 1,000-odd midday meal cooks demonstrated at Kishori Yadav Chowk demanding service regularisation, 5,000 anganwadi sevikas and 3,000 para-teachers staged a dharna for the same near governor’s house.
As many as 500 Congress leaders and workers, on the other hand, protested against the Narendra Modi government’s alleged attempts to hush up irregularities in the CBI over the Rafale deal at the CBI local office on Kali Babu Street, 300 metres from Raj Bhavan.
Around 200 JVM workers agitated in front of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation office in Kutchery, a kilometre from Raj Bhavan, against shoddy maintenance of city roads.
Another 200 students of Ranchi College blocked the road passing through Ranchi University’s Morabadi premises, also a kilometre from the governor’s house, demanding a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles inside the campus.
The series of protests began around 9am and continued in phases till 4pm. Commuters heading to Kutchery via Kishori Yadav Chowk and Kutchery Chowk were the worst-hit.
Adivasi Chatra Sangh members block Morabadi Road seeking a ban on entry of heavy vehicles inside the Ranchi University campus. Prashant Mitra
State Congress president Ajoy Kumar (in white shirt), Jagannathpur MLA Geeta Koda (in pink saree) and senior Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay (in black bundi) protest in front of the CBI office in Ranchi on Monday demanding resignations of PM Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman for benching CBI director Alok Verma. Prashant Mitra
Prabhakar, an entrepreneur riding his bike, said many of them were forced to take detours during office hours. “As the stretch between Kishori Yadav Chowk and Kutchery Chowk remained congested, traffic constables diverted vehicles from Kanke Road via LPN Shahdeo Chowk, Suchana Bhavan and Radium Road. Those coming from Harmu had to cover 2km more to reach Kutchery,” he said.
Sujit Kumar, an entrepreneur and resident of Kishoreganj, had trouble bringing his daughter, Ananya, back from school. “She is a Class III student at DAV Kapildev in Kadru. I was caught in the snarl near Bharat Mata Chowk for 30 minutes and my daughter was anxiously waiting for me,” he recalled.
Kishwar Sahu, a resident of Argora, said the impact of the marathon protests was also felt on Harmu Bypass. “I crossed Harmu bridge to go towards Kutchery from Argora around noon. There was a big traffic bottleneck. I decided to take a detour. I reached Kutchery via Kadru and Main Road, covering an extra distance of 3km on my bike,” he added.
According to police, the cooks were the first to hit the road at 9am. They squatted at Kishori Yadav Chowk and stopped vehicular movement on Ratu Road.
An hour later, anganwadi workers and para-teachers added to the congestion. The Congress demonstration began around 12.45pm, the JVM protest around 1pm and the students hit the road around 1.15pm. Police had a tough time as the situation eased only around 4pm.
Kotwali thana OC S.N. Mandal said it was almost an unprecedented day of protests. “From cooks to para-teachers; from Congress to JVM leaders; from college students to anganwadi workers — everyone was in protest mode. Senior Congress leaders like Ajoy Kumar and Subodh Kant Sahay joined the agitation. Normal traffic could be restored only after 4pm,” he added.
JVM workers protest outside the RMC office demanding reduction of holding tax among other issues. Prashant Mitra
Anganwadi workers protest near Raj Bhavan for regularisation of their services. Prashant Mitra
