Mumbai traffic police issues travel advisory for Amit Shah’s rally at BKC on Friday, April 6

Motorists travelling in the suburbs, especially via the Western Express Highway, might have to brace for major traffic snarls in the morning and evening owing to a massive rally by BJP president Amit Shah.

Shah would address the rally in Mumbai tomorrow (April 6) on the occasion of the party’s 38th Foundation Day, which is seen as a formal launch of its campaign for the 2019 polls.

Party workers from various parts of Maharashtra are expected to attend the event to be held at the MMRDA grounds in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in suburban Bandra.

Besides Shah, Union ministers hailing from Maharashtra and other BJP leaders will address the congregation to be held at 11:30 am, state unit president Raosaheb Danve said while addressing a press conference earlier.

Travel advisory by Mumbai Traffic Police:

In order to ensure smooth movement of traffic in view of the public rally at MMRDA ground, the following travel arrangements have been made for tomorrow from 7 am to 8 pm.

No entry for heavy vehicles:

Entry of heavy vehicles or goods carriers in Mumbai via Anandnagar Check Naka, Mulund East; Modela Check Naka, Mulund West; Airoli Check Naka and Vashi Check Naka will be restricted. Thane City, Thane Rural and Navi Mumbai Police have been requested to divert/stop heavy vehicles appropriately.

Advisory for general commuters:

Traffic congestion is likely to occur on approach roads from Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway towards BKC. Commuters are advised to avoid SCLR, Surve Junction on LBS Road, Nehru Road till Ambedkar Junction, Shardadevi Road as far as possible.

Alternate Routes Available:

Eastern Suburbs: JVLR, LBS Road and Eastern Freeway.
Western Suburbs: SV Road and Linking Road.

Students appearing for exams and commuters going towards airport and railway stations are advised to plan their travel in advance. Regular traffic updates will be provided by various media outlets throughout the day.

About the rally:

For the saffron party, the Mumbai venue has an emotional connect, as its first convention after formation of the party was held in the Maharashtra capital in 1980.

“The BJP intends to have one crore members in the state. We have a team of 25 youths comprising women, dalits, OBCs and adivasis for manning each booth in the state. There are 315 booths in each Assembly constituency. This takes the total number of booth workers in each constituency to 7500,” said Danve.

Danve said arrangements have been made to bring the party workers to Mumbai in trains, buses and jeeps.

Referring to the 1980 convention, Danve said a clarion call was then given for making Atal Bihari Vajpayee the next Prime Minister, which took some years to materialise.

“Vajpayee was elected prime minister thrice in later years. After the BJPs BKC rally in 2014 (which was addressed by the BJPs then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi) power was changed in the country, similarly this upcoming mega rally will also enthuse party cadres with new energy and the impact would be seen nationwide,” he said.

To a question whether the rally can be viewed as the formal launch of the BJPs electoral campaign, Danve replied, “Yes, you can say that”.

Speaking after Danve, Mumbai BJP unit president Ashish Shelar said Shah would land in Mumbai on Thursday evening and will be accompanied from the airport to the BKC, a distance of around 9 kms, by BJP workers on motorcycles.

“On April 5 evening, Shah will meet the core committee of the state BJP that includes Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other senior leaders,” said Shelar.

He said Shah might hold a press conference on April 6 after addressing the rally and will also interact with BJP legislators and MPs from Maharashtra.

Shah, incidentally, is not scheduled to meet Sena president Uddhav Thackeray who resides in suburban Bandra which houses the BKC, the venue of the rally.

Although Shah received a warm welcome for party workers on Thursday evening, thousands of Mumbaikars blamed the politico and the BJP for bringing peak hour traffic on the Western Express Highway to a complete halt and inconveniencing motorists by their bike rally.

“Why should any political party be allowed to block traffic? Stuck on the Western Express Highway since an hour !!! What is the #MumbaiPolice doing? #DevendraFadanvis why should your party be allowed to make people suffer in the #MumbaiTraffic,” tweeted an angry motorist.