Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday got stuck in severe traffic jam at three points of the city while going to attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Secretariat despite the countrywide blockade and hartal programmes enforced the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

The Prime Minister’s motorcade set out for the Bangladesh Secretariat from her official residence Ganobhaban at about 9.45am, as she was scheduled to attend the regular weekly cabinet meeting at the Secretariat at about 10:00am, PM’s Deputy Press Secretary Ashraful Alam Khokan said.

But, he said, the VIP roads through which the PM’s motorcade move could not be cleared this morning due to the severe traffic jam on the city streets.

The Prime Minister’s route is usually cleared 30 minutes before her motorcade start moving for the sake of her security, Ashraful Alam said.

“But today her motorcade had to stop at three points of the capital—Farmgate, Bangla Motor and Kakrail Mosque—because of the severe traffic congestions despite the frantic efforts by the traffic police to clear the roads 30 minutes before her motorcade’s start,” Khokan said.

The BNP-Jamaat alliance enforced the non-stop countrywide blockade on January 6 last and added a nationwide 72-hour hartal to it from Sunday morning to press for its various demands.