Patna, May 9: The impact of traffic jam at Gandhi Setu and NH-30 was visible at 1 Aney Marg during the janata darbar of chief minister Nitish Kumar today, as very few complainants had turned up.

People coming from Gandhi Setu and NH-30 could not reach the darbar and those who reached were late.

The Telegraph heard Nitish asking his officials about the number of people attending the darbar today. An official said 451 complainants.

Nitish said: “Just 451, it may be because of traffic.”

The Telegraph asked Nitish about the reason behind less number of complainants to which he replied: “I think, it’s because of the panchayat elections. People have chosen to vote first instead of coming to the darbar but I don’t think it’s because of the jam.”

That the jam was the reason behind the low turnout was proven while speaking to some complainants, who reached after 11am and were not allowed to enter the darbar as the timing of the registration had passed.

Rishi Raj of Hajipur in Vaishali said: “I left my house on time but I was struck on the Gandhi Setu for almost one hour. I could have otherwise attended the darbar.”

Another complainant Abhinav Kumar of Fathua said: “There was traffic jam on NH-30. I spent more than two hours and reached the darbar at 12.30pm.”

On normal days, around 2,000 complainants attend the darbar with their grievances but today the number was not even one-third.

Usually the darbar gets over by evening but today it closed by 2pm.