A number of buses rented by the party to carry its rally participants from different parts of the city and elsewhere in the country were parked in front of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, Secretariat, Bangabazar and on the adjacent streets making it difficult for vehicles to move smoothly.

Traffic were congested for several hours at most parts of central Dhaka including Shahbagh, Press Club, Paltan, Motijheel, Kakrail and Nayapaltan causing difficulties for office workers returning home in the hot afternoon.

The situation worsened when the rally participants marched towards Paltan from different parts of the city and the traffic police re-routed Motijheel, Sayedabad and Sadarghat-bound buses towards Kakrail from Matsya Bhaban and towards Gulistan from Paltan.

Many were seen walking on footpaths while many motorbike riders were also compelled to get on the footpaths to avoid delays on the streets.

"I got on a Syedabad-bound bus at Shahbagh at 4:00pm to go to Dainik Bangla, but the traffic police diverted the vehicle in front of the Directorate of Public Health and Engineering forcing it to go back towards Hotel Sheraton," said Suravi, a student.

She said she was compelled to get down near Minto Road and walked to Kakrail where she took a rickshaw to arrive at her destination. "A journey that usually takes no more than half an hour took about an hour and a half."

For Chaitannya Chandra, who is a lawyer at Metropolitan Magistrate Court, it was too long a journey to come to Farmgate from Gulistan. "It took more than an hour," he said.