Chennai:
Metro rail work, plus 'One Way' changes, plus a DMK agitation plus sudden traffic diversions. That's a deadly cocktail and prescription for a nightmare in daylight for commuters in Chennai. On normal days, traffic crawls at places like the Kodambakkam bridge. You can imagine the plight of motorists today.
At least a thousand party workers gathered to court arrest at twenty places across the city, including arterial stretches like Mount Road, Beach Road and Saidapet, during peak hours. Has anyone spared a thought for the inconvenience caused to the common man struggling to get to work to earn his daily bread and wage a losing battle against inflation?
Political parties will argue that in a democracy, everyone has a right to protest, within the framework of the law. Quite. But what do they hope to achieve by this very public busy traffic intersection angst? The common man affected today is the potential 'employer' of people who block roads! If the goal of political parties is to garner public support, create public sympathy and build public opinion for a particular cause, how can you possibly hope to achieve anything remotely close to that, by causing inconvenience to this very section? Rallying resentment is like a fox trot in any quest to win people over.
Now if the average office goers had a harrowing time reaching their work places, they may need to brace themselves for an action replay this evening. This is when those who courted arrest are likely to be released. Painfully enough, again during rush hour traffic. When that happens, you will probably hear victory chants. But don't miss the curses of the average motorist stuck again in a jam after a tiring day.