The Kejriwal government cannot escape every time by saying that they are new and liable to make mistakes. If so, their lok sabha debut should be considered early and immature.
Barely two days after Delhi chief minister promised his people to return with janata durbar after fleeing its chaotic scene due to lack of proper arrangements, Arvind Kejriwal is learnt to have scrapped them now.
On Monday he announced that there would be no such public meets and the government will open new channels where people can report their grievances through other mediums – online, post and calls. He will now be available ‘once a week’ for ‘two-three hours’ just for ‘meeting’ people.
“As there are people who just want to meet the Chief Minster, so I will be available once a week for two to three hours to meet the people. People need not come to us for their grievances. For that we are opening several avenues,” he said.
An estimated 5,000 people had thronged the open space outside the Delhi Secretariat on Saturday morning when Kejriwal had held his first janata durbar to hear people’s grievances. But the crowd was so overwhelming that Kejriwal left it midway and addressed people from the rooftop of the secretariat.
The incident had created a major uproar in the media and social media with his former ally Kiran Bedi criticizing for his action. At a time when he should have been there calming the crowd and asking for their patience, he left women and children who had come just to see him at the peril of the police and the crowd itself.
Kejriwal should have taken a cue from the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who, despite a terror attack at his rally venue in Patna, remained on stage and was successful in maintaining calm between the people who had come to see and listen to him.
It is totally acceptable that the Kejriwal government is new and will learn from its mistakes, but this learning should not beat the cost of the people. Also, they cannot escape from the fact that there was no proper arrangement at the secretariat for the crowd management.
The Kejriwal government cannot escape every time by saying that they are new and liable to make mistakes. If so, their lok sabha debut should be considered early and immature.
