The last week has seen a lot of activity in political circles as there’s uncertainty in the air with the coalition government between the JD(S) and BJP all set to collapse. The reality drama playing out in the state has all the ingredients of a great television show.

There is greed, emotion, betrayal, upsets, allegations and wild card entries. Add to this the lobbying, constant confabulations, leaders rushing to the media with interesting sound bytes, then flying off to Delhi, supporters gathering in hoards around party offices, crowding the airports, media personnel following  every move, OB vans posted outside Raj Bhavan to catch the latest action, etc, etc.  

What more could anyone want?

However, most Bangaloreans being generally apathetic about what their leaders are up to and minding their own business, they treated the unfolding drama as though it was happening far away on their TV screens, not even really caring that there has been no governance for several weeks in the state.

That is, until poltics threatened to interfere with their daily lives. This is when their growing irritation and dormant frustrations against their leaders threatened to overflow into rage. Road rage to be more specific.   

There were traffic jams almost everywhere last week, because major roads were blocked for hours, with politicians and their followers rushing around from one meeting to another. Raj Bhavan being the focus of all the attention, it was a nightmare for anybody using this road.

On Thursday evening, it took me an hour and a half to reach Malleswaram from Richmond Road. There was a major traffic jam on Raj Bhavan Road, with politicians, their followers, OB vans, media personnel and hangers on crowding around the Governor's residence. 

The traffic police manning traffic signals leading to this major thoroughfare stopped traffic from anywhere between seven to 10 minutes at each signal, as they worked feverishly to clear the traffic jams.

There was not a single stretch of road  that was free of traffic. Vehicles on the roads were inching forward, bumper to bumper. The guys who had it good were those on two wheelers and auto rickshaws. They had the dexterity to weave and cleave their way through the sea of vehicles.

Road rage was naturally at its peak. If the mildest form of it was of those leaning on their horns, the fiercest was of those intimidating the others, by waving their arms about wildly and screaming profanities at others.

Perhaps their vehicles were nicked, or maybe they had been edged them out of the race to get ahead to the next traffic circle, where they could then spend the next ten minutes waiting for traffic to be cleared. If this was Raj Bhavan road, Airport Road was no better.

A friend arriving in Bangalore, found the airport blocked with truckloads of supporters bidding farewell to their leaders on their way to Delhi, (or perhaps it was on their way back) and it took her merely two hours to reach her destination.          

With the state’s political situation continuing to be hazy, the forecast for the next week can only be more serious traffic jams in the city.