Jalpaiguri, Dec. 23: A roadside meeting and procession by the Forward Bloc in Jalpaiguri town threw traffic out of gear for at least four hours, forcing vehicles to make a detour and residents to walk long distances.

The Bloc held the meeting at Samajpara crossing along Merchant Road, a thoroughfare, and later took out the procession on issues ranging from delay in the establishment of the Calcutta High Court circuit bench here to refund of money to depositors of fund mobilising schemes.

As over 5,000 Bloc supporters from across north Bengal assembled at the crossing to attend the meeting, traffic came to a halt in the area for at least four hours from 11.30am. People had to skirt Merchant Road and take other streets, lanes and by-lanes to reach their destinations.

Litigants and their family members going to the district court and those going for banks and Dinbazar, the principal market in the town, blamed police and administration for not making any attempt to clear the jam.

'We don't find a logic in convening a public meeting on the street. There are several grounds in town for political programmes. There is no point in obstructing people's movement by blocking the road. Police personnel present at the spot took no effort to clear the road,' said Rita Dey, a housewife who had to take a turnaround route to reach Dinbazar and walk for a couple of kilometres to take a rickshaw.

The meeting was addressed by Udayan Guha, a state secretariat member of the Bloc, and Gobinda Roy, the Jalpaiguri district vice-president of the party. 'The chief minister has lost her credibility after the Saradha scam. She is trying to cosy up to the Prime Minister to save herself,' said Guha.

After the meeting, the Bloc supporters took out a rally that started from the Samajpara crossing and ended at the divisional commissioner's office, where a memorandum was submitted.

Moments after people heaved a sigh of relief and transport movement started limping back to normal, BJP leaders and supporters - around 1,000 of them - took out a rally around 4.30pm. The rally, they said, was held to celebrate the party's performance in the Assembly polls in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP rally, too, progressed through different streets and roads, leading to traffic congestion again. Traffic became normal around 5.30pm.

A police officer said no force had been used to clear the Bloc supporters in order to avoid a law-and-order problem.