Rajasthan CM faces public ire for arriving late at 'Jan Sunwai' event in Kota

Kota: Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Thursday drew public ire after he arrived one hour late to hear their grievances at a "Jan Sunwai" meeting held at the circuit house here on Thursday.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 8 am, but Sharma joined about an hour late after the noisy crowd resorted to sloganeering.

Upon his arrival, the chief minister listened to public grievances for approximately 20-25 minutes, during which several individuals complained of police negligence.

Saloni Mittal, a local resident, alleged that the police ignored her complaint about an attack on her husband by some criminals five days ago.

In response, the chief minister directed Superintendent of Police Amrita Duhan to investigate the matter and ensure quick relief for the victim.

At the meeting, the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) Association submitted a memorandum to Bhajanlal Sharma demanding action against Naresh Meena -- the Independent nominee for the bypoll to the Deoli-Uniara Assembly seat -- for slapping a sub-divisional magistrate during polling in full view of camera crews on Wednesday.

Meena was arrested later on Thursday.

Several fora representing contractual staff also raised demands to end contractual employment as they submitted a memorandum to the chief minister in this regard.

Drawing the chief minister's attention, Arun Das Chabra, who worked on the track doubling project between Kota and Bina railway stations for four years, claimed that he and some other workers didn't receive their wages because the company which employed them left the scene.

State Energy Minister Heeralal Nagar, Kota South MLA Sandeep Sharma and District Collector Ravindra Goswami were among those present at the event.

Sharma, who arrived in Kota on Wednesday evening to attend the wedding reception of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter, left for Jaipur at around 10 am.