The filing of nominations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024 at the Mumbai Suburban District Collectorate in Bandra East led to a substantial traffic jam in the area on Thursday morning.
Notable figures such as Bhushan Patil, Congress candidate for the Mumbai North constituency, and Amol Kirtikar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, submitted their nominations for the general elections. Hundreds of their supporters joined processions to the collectorate to demonstrate their solidarity, greatly disrupting vehicular traffic. Despite a significant police presence, little relief was provided.
The burden of this particular day fell heavily on the traffic police and motorists, many of whom found themselves either stuck in traffic or navigating through congested roads as leaders and party workers continued to march in support of their respective political parties.
Police officials have stated that the traffic restrictions near the Mumbai Suburban District Collectorate in Bandra East will remain in effect until tomorrow.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), Mumbaikars shared their experiences of dealing with traffic jams.
It`s near Collectors Office Bandra East (and the surrounding area near MIG Cricket Club) and internal roads… traffic from WEH to BKC passing through Bandra East may be diverted.. it happened 2 days back due to some protest / procession.. same today
— Prasanta K Biswal (@prasantakbiswal) May 2, 2024
Please Help Us Mumbai Traffic Police Hum 1 Ghante Se Jam Mein Fhase Hue Hai Kalanagar Bandra East Mein @MTPHereToHelp pic.twitter.com/KPiqHf1kzK
— Arslan (@24thearslan) May 2, 2024
Commuters, traveling from as far as Vasai and Virar on a hot sunny day, heading towards Bandra East, particularly to Kala Nagar and Bandra Kurla Complex for work, voiced their frustration.
“I reached Bandra East rickshaw stand at 10:30 am but did not get a rickshaw as there were very few autorickshaws at the station compared to every day. Most rickshawallahs said that they will not go to the Kala Nagar area as there are police officers and everything is blocked and it will be impossible to go there as it is a waste of their time. I had to wait at the railway station in the heat for over 20 minutes. I finally got one rickshaw that reached me to Guru Nanak Hospital rickshaw stand. While it is closed till Guru Nanak stand on one side, the auto-rickshaws were dropping people off at Chetana College on the other side and people had to walk,” said Kailash Suthar.
The Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Mumbai are scheduled to take place on May 20, with the counting set for June 4.
Of the 48 seats in Maharashtra, Mumbai accounts for six, while the adjoining Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has four. Mumbai’s six seats include Mumbai North, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central. The MMR has Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar.
In 2019, three of Mumbai’s seats went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — Gopal Shetty (Mumbai North), Manoj Kotak (Mumbai North East) and Poonam Mahajan (Mumbai North Central). The remaining three were won by the Shiv Sena — Gajanan Kirtikar (Mumbai North West), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai South Central) and Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South).
The elections will be fought with two alliances – the ruling Mahayuti comprising BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) faction and the MVA or Maha Aghadi, with Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Congress.
(With inputs from Nascimento Pinto, Ainie Rizvi and Sujay Shivalkar)
