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Sonia holds the strings, says Deshmukh
Mumbai, Oct 18: After surviving political challenges from within the Congress and the Shiv Sena-BJP Opposition, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that he would continue in the post as long as he enjoys the confidence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Mumbai, Oct 18: After surviving political challenges from within the Congress and the Shiv Sena-BJP Opposition, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that he would continue in the post as long as he enjoys the confidence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
"I cannot make any claim in this regard," Deshmukh said when asked in an interview whether he was confident of leading the party in the next assembly elections, two years away from now. Deshmukh, whose government completes three years in office on Friday, said this had been achieved despite attempts by the saffron combine Opposition to topple the government.
Asked whether he faced any difficulties in running the eight-party coalition, Deshmukh said, "The decision making process definitely takes more time in a coalition government." The "coalition culture", be it at the Centre or in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, is new to the country, he added.
Asked whether he was satisfied with the manner in which he was leading a multi-party government in the state, the chief minister said, "We have genuinely tried to take public welfare decisions that would benefit the downtrodden sections of society." The government has done impressive work in sectors like co-operation, public works department and irrigation, he claimed. But "politicians cannot afford to be complacent and have to relentlessly continue with their work. If a politician is satisfied with his work he cannot progress".
He said that resolving the controversy over the Enron power project was the most important achievement of his government which is now negotiating with the IDBI-led consortium and finalising the offtake of electricity from the first phase of Dabhol Power Company.
Virtually blaming the Enron controversy for the present electricity crisis in the state, Deshmukh said as the Enron issue remained unresolved, the government did not undertake any new power projects. He admitted that Maharashtra is facing a power shortage of 2,000 MW during the peak period. He said while he was not fully satisfied with his government's efforts to bring the state's fragile economy back on the rails, he was finding ways to revive it. Bureau Report
"I cannot make any claim in this regard," Deshmukh said when asked in an interview whether he was confident of leading the party in the next assembly elections, two years away from now. Deshmukh, whose government completes three years in office on Friday, said this had been achieved despite attempts by the saffron combine Opposition to topple the government.
Asked whether he faced any difficulties in running the eight-party coalition, Deshmukh said, "The decision making process definitely takes more time in a coalition government." The "coalition culture", be it at the Centre or in states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, is new to the country, he added.
Asked whether he was satisfied with the manner in which he was leading a multi-party government in the state, the chief minister said, "We have genuinely tried to take public welfare decisions that would benefit the downtrodden sections of society." The government has done impressive work in sectors like co-operation, public works department and irrigation, he claimed. But "politicians cannot afford to be complacent and have to relentlessly continue with their work. If a politician is satisfied with his work he cannot progress".
He said that resolving the controversy over the Enron power project was the most important achievement of his government which is now negotiating with the IDBI-led consortium and finalising the offtake of electricity from the first phase of Dabhol Power Company.
Virtually blaming the Enron controversy for the present electricity crisis in the state, Deshmukh said as the Enron issue remained unresolved, the government did not undertake any new power projects. He admitted that Maharashtra is facing a power shortage of 2,000 MW during the peak period. He said while he was not fully satisfied with his government's efforts to bring the state's fragile economy back on the rails, he was finding ways to revive it. Bureau Report