Patna, Jan. 31: Relatives of noted Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar today came to chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata darbar to lodge a complaint about deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Their plea: to stop the forceful taking over of Dinkar Bhavan, the house of the late poet, on Arya Kumar Road, near Machuatoli, by Sushil’s nephew Mahesh Modi.

Though the darbar at the chief minister’s official residence on 1 Aney Marg was exclusively for party workers, Dinkar’s daughter-in-law Hemant Devi and grandson Arvind Kumar Singh managed to meet Nitish and lodge their complaint. Nitish’s response, however, did not satisfy them.

Hemant, after meeting the chief minister, told The Telegraph: “The chief minister gave us a vague response. He said this was not the right place to discuss this matter, as this was a janata darbar for the JD (U) and BJP members. He told us to return for another darbar. Sushil Kumar Modi was sitting with him. I told Nitishji that I was the daughter-in-law of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar but he did not listen to our grievance.”

Hemant added: “Nitish Kumar is talking about good governance and development but what about people like us? My father-in-law was a great poet and national icon. He is the recipient of various awards. But his own state has failed to respect him. My husband passed away a few years after our marriage. This is the only house we have. Even that is being taken away from us by force and the chief minister is doing nothing to help us.”

Arvind said: “We have a small shop in Dinkar Bhavan that was leased out to Mahesh for three years. All the legal formalities were carried out before the exchange. Mahesh used to earlier sell videocassettes but now he has opened a medicine shop. Though the lease period ended on April 30, 2010, he is not ready to vacate the premises. As he has political connections, he keeps threatening that he will take over the house.”

“He comes to our house and abuses our mother. He also brings along a few of his men to intimidate us. He wants to throw us out of our own house. I have two children, their studies are being disturbed by this rowdy behaviour,” added Arvind.

He also said they had met city superintendent of police Manu Maharaj but the officer told them that he could do nothing regarding the matter.

“Even the deputy chief minister told us that he could do nothing in the matter when we apprised him about it,” said Arvind.

He added: “This is a great insult to the poet and Bihar. If Mahesh’s strong-arm tactics continue, he will surely take over Dinkar Bhavan. That will be a great shame for the state government.”

The Telegraph called up Mahesh but he disconnected when he was informed about the allegation. He did not receive the later calls. Sushil was not available for comment either.