Lok Sabha elections 2024: Nomination filing in Bandra East sparks traffic mayhem

Sunil Khare, a VBA member outside the collector’s office

With three candidates from major political parties filling their nominations at the collector's office in Bandra East, the respective party workers created severe traffic jams leading to chaos in the area. The traffic department and the police in BKC claimed that they did not anticipate such a major rush. Owing to this lapse, local residents and officegoers were greatly inconvenienced.

Bhushan Patil from the Congress, Amol Kirtikar from Sena UBT, Advocate Sonal Gondane, and other candidates from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), filled out their forms on Thursday, and BJP's candidate, Advocate Ujjwal Nikam, is set to fill his form today (May 3).

"We did not anticipate that candidates from major political parties would fill their nomination forms today and hence we had to organise unplanned bandobast and divert routes going towards BKC and other directions. We will plan Friday's bandobast, as tomorrow is the last day. We have adequate police force and will ensure that there are no issues," said a traffic official.

Bilas Jadhav, a VBA member outside the collector's office. Pics/Ashish Raje

According to a local resident, the crowd had begun to gather around 9.30 am and had dispersed around 4 pm. Due to the large crowd, the roads were blocked, which angered local residents who had no prior warning.

"We saw party karyakartas gathering around the collector's office in the morning. Major mismanagement was on display as roads were blocked for many hours. The police did not allow people to enter their residential complexes for a long time. The routes going towards BKC were blocked till 4 pm," said a resident.

"Local candidates that represented the political parties had started to gather around 9 am. The authorities allowed six people from one political party to enter the premises at a time. We faced a lot of difficulties in reaching the collector's office as the rickshaw refused to take us to the destination. We then found out that there were barricades everywhere and the entire area was blocked, which created a traffic issue for five hours. People were continuously honking and there was a lot of chaos and mismanagement by the authorities," said Sunil Khare, a member of VBA

"As we had informed the police that our candidates would come to fill the form, they did not ask how many party workers would be there with a candidate. Hence, a lot of people gathered around the collector's office and we coordinated with other political parties and waited for our turn in the scorching sun. The police had blocked all the roads leading towards BKC, hence office-going commuters and local residents faced a lot of issues," said Bilas Jadhav, a member of the VBA.

"For the past few days, we have been facing a lot of issues due to the form-filling process. Our business is down and today there was utter chaos. We had to open our shop late in the evening," said Mohammed Hannis, a shopkeeper.

Mohammed Hannis, a shopkeeper, said his business has been affected

The DCP ensured that the force was adequate and people would not face any issues. "We have adequate force and the routes will be diverted. Presently, there is no traffic and we will ensure that a situation of law and order is maintained," said Zone 8 DCP Dikshit Gedam.