Too hot: Chief minister Nitish Kumar meets visitors at his janata darbar in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, May 2: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today got a live demonstration of the ordeal the residents face on a daily basis, thanks to the perennial power crisis in the state.

Three subsequent power cuts between 10.30am and 11.30am at Nitish’s janata darbar tested the patience of not just the visitors but also the chief minister and his officials.

The power cuts, each of which lasted for five to 10 minutes, rendered more than 200 fans at the darbar useless and visitors and officials were left to sweat it out in the heat. As it was a rather hot day, with the maximum temperature touching 37°C, many of the visitors were seen using their application forms and other documents to fan themselves.

The situation, however, lent credibility to Nitish’s claim that the state government is “helpless” about the acute power problem in the state and the Centre must intervene to sort out the crisis.

Gaya resident Arjun Kumar, a visitor to the darbar, said: “There are frequent power cuts in my house and we hardly get any power. But I never thought there were power cuts at the CM’s residence too. It is really disappointing to see that even this place is not spared.”

The visitors were so surprised to see power cuts at 1 Aney Marg, that it almost had a hypnotic effect on them. Every time the power went off, the visitors looked up to stare at the fans as they slowly rotated to a stop. They just could not look away till the fans started rotating again.

Another visitor at the darbar said: “Now I really believe that there is a severe power shortage in the state. Earlier, I used to think that Nitish Kumar is not serious about the problem. But if the chief minister’s official residence faces power problems, one can well imagine the condition in the other parts of the state. I think we should stop blaming him (Nitish) for the power crisis.”

Others were, however, not that generous. Bhagalpur resident Shekhar Kumar said: “The power cut here was only for five minutes but we suffer for two to three hours every day. It may be a big issue for the chief minister but we are used to such ordeal.”

The officials at the darbar were annoyed and frustrated by the power cuts. A senior police officer said: “It is really frustrating. Thousands of people are gathered here and the power cuts are really testing our patience. At least the chief minister’s house should be made a no-power-cut zone.”

If power cuts added to the woes of the complainants, sattu drink, being distributed at the darbar, provided them the relief and energy to wait for their turn to speak to the chief minister.

Muzaffarpur resident Suraj Kumar said: “Thank God for the sattu and the water. It’s a scorching day, I would have fainted in this crowded place had it not been for the energising drink.”