Government guarded about session strategy

At the pre winter-session press conference, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan refused to be excited by repeated questions about Pawar and the scam.

Betraying no signs of being on the defensive or prepared for the opposition onslaught, he skirted all political questions with the common refrain: “We are ready for discussion on everything. We will display our strategy in the legislature.”

Asked how he would defend himself, given the hostile atmosphere built against him, Pawar remarked in his unmistakable style: “Dakhvto na tithe (don’t worry, I will show in the legislature).”

CM welcomed Pawar back in the ministry, sparing a few words of praise. “As finance minister, he has to take some difficult and unpopular decisions. Pawar has it in him to do it,” he said.