National

'Pawar Will Not Remote-Control Us'

Vilasrao Deshmukh, Maharashtra's 54-year-old chief minister, is confident that he will be able to restore the state to its former glory, albeit with a lot of help-from the bureaucracy, from his colleagues and from Lady Luck. He spoke to Sujata Ananda

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'Pawar Will Not Remote-Control Us'
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How do you propose to come to grips with the many contradictions in your multi-party coalition?

The main issue responsible for the Congress split has now subsided. And if you look at the results, 69 per cent of the votes were cast in favour of the left-of- centre forces. We are clear that despite our differences, we have come together to keep the communal forces out of power. In view of this larger goal, personal differences have been ignored. We are all experienced people and we can be trusted to to give a good, stable, clean government.

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For how long?

For a full five-year term. It does not matter who is the chief minister or who a minister. We are all trustees of Maharashtra. Being in government does not mean you can bend all rules.

How will you tackle the bankruptcy plaguing the state?

I have authorised the bureaucracy to prepare a report in five days. None of our decisions will be such that the state will suffer.

Are you confident of the bureaucracy? It seemed to have been the bane of the Sena-bjp's existence.

If you are confused to begin with, the bureaucracy will only confuse you further. We have the capacity to understand problems and get them solved without treating bureaucrats like our personal servants. The Congress ruled here for 40 years and never led the state to bankruptcy.

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Does your government have the will to arrest those indicted by the Srikrishna Commission report?

We are not going to use the Srikrishna report merely as a weapon. We have come in thanks to our promises and a review of the report is part of our manifesto, as also of the ncp's. After reviewing the report, we will study whatever legal action is possible. But until the review, it will be premature to make any comments on further action.

Are you sure that Sharad Pawar will not be your remote control?

He can always make suggestions. There is no question of him governing the state by remote control.

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