'Janta darbar' was my idea, says Bihar's Nitish Kumar

Patna: A major talking point today was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's decision to abandon plans of a weekly janta darbar or people's court in which the public could share its problems with his ministers and him.

Been there, done that -first, said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

Mr Kumar said that the concept of a regularly scheduled public meeting to ensure people's problems are addressed was his  brainchild.

"There was no past example of such a programme when a chief minister interacted directly with the common man. It was started in Bihar during my regime," he said.

Initially, Mr Kumar's janta darbars were held twice a week. They now occur every Monday.

Mr Kejriwal's first janta darbar was abruptly abandoned when thousands of people showed up to meet him on Saturday.  The chief minister was escorted out by the police. (Arvind Kejriwal ends 'janata darbars', says he will go to the people instead)

Today, he said that he will travel to different parts of Delhi every Saturday to talk to people.

Asked if he would like to give any tips to Mr Kejriwal, the Bihar Chief Minister was coy.

"Everybody has his or her own style of functioning and it is not my nature to interfere or provide unsolicited advice," he said.