Many of the youth of Dehradun who appeared for competitive exams on Sunday faced problems due to the lack of city buses and Vikrams due to Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in the State capital.
Apart from this, the people also faced inconvenience due to traffic diversions and resulting congestion in various parts of the city. A student, Rakhi said, “We stood at the bus stop for about an hour without a single city bus or Vikram arriving.” She also said that auto-rickshaw drivers were charging exorbitant fares due to the lack of city buses and Vikrams.
“The disruption of public transport due to the BJP rally has caused major inconvenience for us," she added. Another student Nikhil Rawat said, "I have been waiting for a Vikram for a long time but due to the rally, only a few were operating on the roads. Most of the Vikrams were hired by the people who are attending the rally and because of that we are getting late for our exams,” he said while adding that even on general days, people in the State capital suffer from inefficient public transport system.
Aditya Negi, a local resident said that most of the exam centres are in the suburbs and it’s not possible for everyone to hire an auto rickshaw as their drivers are over-charging because of limited public transport in the city. He also complained that the focus of the authorities is on the BJP rally while the problems being faced by the students and public are being ignored. Deepti Barthwal, another student said that she waited for a Vikram for half an hour but all the three-wheelers that passed her were already full.
Apart from the lack of public transport, the people in Dehradun also faced traffic congestion at various places during the rally and after the end of the rally when thousands of people started returning to their homes after hearing Gujarat CM and BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi at the Parade Ground. Though police had been deployed at various places to regulate traffic, the men in uniform appeared to be unable to prevent traffic congestion.