Kanshiram death anniversary: Dozen trains, thousand buses to ferry people to Lucknow

Kanshiram Smarak Sthal as heavy rains lashed Lucknow on Saturday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Traffic police and railway officials are bracing for the arrival of a huge crowd for the BSP’s rally at Kanshiram Smarak Sthal in Lucknow, on the occasion of party founder Kanshiram’s death anniversary, on Sunday. BSP leaders have made claims of bringing around 5,000 people from each of the 403 Assembly constituencies. More than one dozen trains and over a thousand buses and four-wheelers are expected to reach Lucknow by Sunday morning.

The Railways have banned the entry of people other than passengers at Charbagh railway station between Saturday 11 pm to Sunday midnight. Keeping in mind the rush of people, passengers have been advised to reach the station 30 minutes before their scheduled departure, and carry minimum luggage. Traffic, which is already diverted because of ongoing construction work on main roads for metro rail, has further been diverted at seven places to avoid traffic jams. The traffic police have also stopped the arrival of UP State Road Transport Corporation buses to Charbagh bus station.

Dozens of buses carrying people from western UP and Bundelkhand arrived by Saturday evening. The area surrounding the rally venue has been filled with BSP’s hoardings. BSP leaders Satish Chandra Misra, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Ram Achal Rajbhar and Ashok Siddharth visited the venue to inspect preparations. Arrangements for the stay of those reaching Saturday night have been made by the party at Smriti Upvan.