Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Seva Yatra tour of a Maoist-hit district in southern Bihar on Friday brought unexpected disappointment to thousands of ordinary people waiting for hours to seek remedies for their grievances as the petitions of many of them were allegedly torn apart.
In what was apparently a mix of mismanagement and callousness on part of the officials guiding the second day of Mr Kumar’s three-day tour of Aurangabad district, even Mr Kumar himself appeared flummoxed at the noisy scramble of complainants. He was seen uncharacteristically getting angry and shouting reprimand at a senior JD(U) women’s wing leader, Veena Kushwaha, who had brought her personal grievance before him.
“We wanted to give a memorandum to the chief minister to seek his intervention in massive corruption in our panchayat, but officials surrounding him said he would receive no more memorandums. It was very disappointing,” said Ramjeet Paswan, of Bairia panchayat, who had come along with scores of people to meet Kumar at his ‘janata durbar’ (people’s court). Arun Kumar, another complainant, alleged that the officials tore apart the handwritten petitions handed to them.