‘I don’t know why I was asked to resign’

Why were you asked to resign as chief minister?

I really don’t know. I am still trying to find out why. If we consider a survey conducted by a national magazine, my performance as chief minister was the best among all the Congress-ruled states.

One thing is certain: veteran Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde, who has been waiting in the wings for a long time, finally got a chance to rule the state. When I was told that Shinde would succeed me, I decided to step down immediately since we have worked together on several occasions.

Another good thing was that my party did not choose any of those leaders who had led a revolt against my leadership. It clearly indicates that those who indulge in such activities will not be encouraged.

What is your action plan?

There is no action plan. I am busy with my own work. Of course, I am prepared to shoulder any responsibility given by the high command. But I haven’t received any word from the All India Congress Committee till now.

Maharashtra was always self-sufficient, it had never been in a financial crisis. Now, you are being blamed for the mess.

When I took over in October 1999, the outstanding debts stood at Rs 48,000 crore, a figure that subsequently rose to Rs 78,000. I repeat, we landed in a financial trap owing to the populist decisions taken by the previous Shiv Sena-BJP government.

They had taken short term loans at a very high rate of interest. By the time the loan had to be repaid, we had taken over. During the three years that I was in office, we paid Rs 27,500 crore as interest on loans and Rs 5,500 crore as the principal amount.

Despite the circumstances, we enhanced Maharashtra’s income by Rs 9,000 crore. We did not pay bonus to our 19 lakh employees and changed the formula for the payment of Dearness Allowance.

But even Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, whose party is a constituent of the Democratic Front, has blamed you for the financial mess.

Pawar was apparently addressing an NCP rally where he said that I did not take into account the suggestions made by finance minister Jayant Patil.

Firstly, I will have to check if Pawar really made such a statement. But I am making it clear that all proposals submitted by Jayant Patil were honoured in letter and spirit. Any proposal under dispute was brought before the cabinet and all decisions were unanimous.

It would be better if Pawar disclosed details of the proposals submitted by Patil that I allegedly didn’t honour.

In fact, Pawar himself held more than half a dozen meetings to take stock of the financial and power crisis. It was true that in certain cases, decisions that had been taken earlier were changed.

Take the case of the monopoly cotton procurement scheme: the cabinet decided to offer the guarantee price being given by the centre. The decision was later changed after a section of NCP ministers threatened to resign. Sharad Pawar knows very well why the decision was reversed.

You are also getting the blame for the issue of government guarantees.

We signed a memorandum of understanding on fiscal discipline with the Centre where we gave an undertaking in writing that the government would not give any more guarantees for loans taken by cooperative societies. That was in November 2002. The decision was ratified by the cabinet. But when a section of sugar cooperatives landed in trouble, we raised the issue with the Reserve Bank of India and Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.

During the meeting, which was attended by Pawar, Singh and the RBI officials, it was decided that soft loans for ailing units would be cleared if the government took the guarantee. The guarantees were for a limited period and for select units. Again, this proposals was brought before the cabinet. So I don’t know why I am being blamed for what was a collective decision.

Were there any projects that you couldn’t complete during your tenure?

We had drafted a plan to provide employment for urban youth on the lines of the Employment Guarantee Scheme for rural workers. We had set up a committee and were in the process of making a budgetary provision.

The assembly elections are just a year-and-a-half away. What are the Congress’s chances?

It is too early to comment. It will depend on whether the Congress and the NCP contest the elections together or independently. We will also have to wait for the outcome of the assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi.

But I am sure that the outcome of the Gujarat elections will not influence the electorate of Maharashtra, which has always maintained its secular character.

How you react to Shinde’s jumbo cabinet?

Shinde has had to accommodate so many ministers out of political compulsions. When I was at the helm of affairs, I too was under pressure but I managed to fight it. Shinde has no option.