It was a chaotic Saturday for thousands of people who came with their grievances at the first of its kind 'janta darbar' organised by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government outside Delhi Secretariat today.
The entire Delhi Cabinet was present at the public hearing to attend grievances of the citizens. The venue, meant to cater only 1000 people, was bursting at seams even as 500 Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel and scores of Delhi policemen tried to manage the crowd.
People from all over Delhi had started gathering at the venue as early as 6 AM for the event that was to start at 9:30 AM.
A stampede-like situation prevailed with barricades at some places broken down by the crowd. So much so that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had to leave the venue midway due to security concerns .
Hundreds of people surrounded him with many of them standing on chairs to get a glimpse of him. However, amidst all the confusion, his council of ministers comprising Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla, Somnath Bharti, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Girish Soni patiently listened to the problems of the public and gave them receipts acknowledging that their complaints had been received.
Senior government officials from various departments as well as those of DDA, police and three MCDs were also present at the venue.
The crowd mostly comprised contractual workers from various government departments like DTC, power company BSES, different government hospitals and municipal corporations demanding permanent status.
The cops remained silent spectators to impromptu sloganeering and sit-in dharnas by various contractual workers associations who blocked the road, making the movement of others difficult.
In the three-ring circus, there were also hundreds of "happy" people who could register their complaints.
Sunita Kapoor from Mandawali in east Delhi reached the secretariat at 6 AM. She met Kejriwal and complained about alleged unauthorised occupation of her flat. "I have been assured by the Chief Minister that I will be helped in the matter," she told PTI.
