UP CM Akhilesh Yadav held his last Janata Darshan at his official residence on Wednesday. (File)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today announced there will be no more public hearings of grievances -- Janata Darshan -- at his official residence. The announcement was made on social media without providing any reason.
"There will be no Janata Darshan from today onwards," the chief minister's office said on Twitter.
Though no official reason has been citied, sources said the decision has been taken in view of approaching assembly elections and possible engagements of the chief minister in political events.
The Janata Darshan - or meet the people - progrmme was started when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav became the chief minister of the state for the first time. The chief minister invited people to come to his residence with their grievances and then try to address their concerns immediately.
The practice was, however, discontinued when Bahujan Samajwadi Party's Mayawati became the chief minister in 2007.
Akhilesh Yadav, who had won the 2012 assembly elections on the promise of being a more responsive chief minister, once again started the public interaction programme in August of that year.
At the time the move was hailed as being a radical departure from the tenure of chief minister Mayawati, who discouraged direct public interactions.