In his first public interaction after becoming the Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal heard grievances of people at janata darbar held at party’s Kaushambi office in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. Unlike last time when the janata darbar was marred with problems of mismanagement and over-crowding, this time it was a well-organised affair. The Uttar Pradesh Police has made elaborate security arrangements to manage the crowd. “Around 200 people turned up and the Chief Minister started the meeting at 10 am, which ended at around 12.30 pm. After this, he left for the Delhi Secretariat. People were allowed inside to meet the Delhi Chief Minister in a group of 4-5,” said a party leader.
This was the first janata darbar after Kejriwal was sworn in on February 14. However, a party functionary termed it as a regular public interaction meeting. “As a head of the Delhi Government, Arvind Kejriwal would be holding Janata Darbar at the AAP’s Kaushambi office on every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- till the time he shifts to his official residence in New Delhi,” added the party functionary.
“In order to streamline the public hearing and to address the issues accordingly, a specific day could be earmarked for different kinds of complaints such as Delhi Jal Board (DJB), labour, power and municipal bodies,” said a party volunteer, adding that Government representatives may also take complaints through SMS or helpline numbers. During his earlier stint as the Chief Minister, Kejriwal, had held a similar darbar. However, it was marred by chaos as a large number of over 20,000 people had turned up. The Delhi Police had expected a crowd of some 5,000 people but the sheer volume of people who wanted to meet the Chief Minister forced the security personnel had to take Kejriwal away from darbar venue.
“In forthcoming public meetings, turnout could be higher as more and more people would be aware about it,” said a party volunteer. To avoid mismanagement, a group of party volunteers would be assisting Kejriwal along with Ghaziabad police personnel. District administration of Ghaziabad has granted permission to hold public meetings and traffic police has already put barricades outside the road of Kejriwal’s residence to restrict entry of vehicles. It has also made proper provisions of deployment of security forces including women constables.