The NH 58, which connects Delhi to Dehradun, would remain closed for traffic for eight hours on Thursday in view of the proposed rally of PM Narendra Modi near village Sivaya here.

NH 58 is considered as one of the busiest National Highways on which thousands of vehicles ply everyday. This highway, connecting Delhi to Dehradun, passes from Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts of UP.

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In view of the PM’s rally on March 28, the authorities have decided to close the highway for eight hours till the rally concludes. A huge crowd is expected to turn up for the rally for which BJP has made extensive arrangements.

However, calling it a traffic diversion and not closure of NH, SP (Traffic) Sanjeev Vajpayee told that traffic will be diverted from Ghaziabad to Meerut from 6 am to 2 pm. Heavy traffic will be diverted from Rajnagar crossing in Ghaziabad and the vehicles will be directed to take another route to reach Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee, Hardwar and Dehradun along the Ganga Canal from Muradnagar.

But this decision has been questioned by the leaders of different political parties. Rajpal Singh, district president of Samajwadi Party, said that by taking this decision the administration has created a problem for lakhs of commuters on NH 58 in the name of the PM’s rally. He also plans to approach the Election Commission as he called it a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Mairajuddin, former minister and star campaigner of RLD, also called it a violation of the code of conduct and asked why the public should suffer for the rally of the prime minister?

Amir Sikander, a supporter of the alliance candidate from Bijnor, Malok Nagar, said that at a time when the election campaign is in full swing this is going to affect the movement of those campaigning for other political parties as well.