Janata asked to remove shoes at ‘darbar’

Fearing a repeat of last week’s incident of a youth hurling his shoe at the chief minister, the security forces seemed more vigil

On Monday, during the Janata Darbar as chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi sat at his official residence 1, Anne Marg to listen to the problems of the people, those who had come there with their petitions were asked to take off their shoes and slippers before they reached the chief minister.

Fearing a repeat of last week’s incident of shoe-hurling by a youth from Chapra, the security forces on Monday seemed more vigil. Despite complaints by the people who had come there, the security forces didn’t budge and even in the chilly weather of January, people were asked to take off their shoes.

“There is nothing to complain, it happens everywhere. We are just trying to tighten the security,” one of the security personnel said.

Other security personnel who were there said that after the shoe-hurling incident, they had become more vigil and the security would remain tight. People who had come from the far-flung areas of the state complained that they had come here with their complaints, but the authorities weren’t letting them move.

The leaders of the BJP reacted sharply after they were told about the arrangement. “It was completely unnecessary. It is a Janata Darbar and it is the official residence of the chief minister not a temple,” former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Monday.