Ignoring the hierarchy in the Sena, Thackeray nominated you as the chief minister, superceding at least half a dozen top party leaders. What prompted Thackeray to make such a change, particularly when Assembly elections are just round the corner?
Certainly, it was an unexpected change. Probably, Thackeray must have thought that I will be able to perform better than my predecessor, Manohar Joshi. Despite adverse circumstances, particularly the financial crisis, I have accepted the challenge and will prove my abilities in the months to come.

Thackeray sacked Joshi and now the Bombay HighCourt has confirmed charges of gross misuse of office and irregularities against him. What will be the impact of the verdict on the alliance government?
The removal of Joshi and his decision to resign from the Assembly will not have any adverse impact either on the organisation or on the government. As far as the high court order is concerned, we will ensure that henceforth, no Cabinet member dares to misuse office. Instructions will be given to Cabinet members as well as bureaucrats to adhere to the rules and regulations before disposing of any file.

Are you planning to review some major policy decisions taken in Joshi's tenure?
If there are specific complaints, I will not hesitate to order an inquiry. No one is above the law.

Less than a year is at your disposal before the Assembly elections. What are your priorities? Do you think your party will be able to retain power?
The main task before me is to implement all the promises my party made in its manifesto. Barring themass housing scheme for slum-dwellers and employment to 27 lakh jobless youths, 80 per cent of the assurances have been implemented. In view of our outstanding performance, it should not be difficult for the alliance to retain power. In the next elections, we will secure at least 165 seats out of 288.

Your government has miserably failed in providing free houses and jobs. In fact, it was on these two assurances that the alliance wiped out the Congress in the metropolis in the 1995 Assembly elections.
It is true that the scheme to provide free houses to 40 lakh slum-dwellers in the metropolis has failed to take off. There are several reasons for it. The entire scheme was based on high real-estate prices. But soon after the scheme was declared, the real-estate market crashed. Now, we have redrafted the scheme and have set a target of 50,000 flats before the Assembly elections.

However, in providing jobs, our performance has been much better compared to any other state. As per official records, inthe past three years, we have been able to provide jobs to an estimated two lakh youths on projects related to development of roads, fly-overs and irrigation facilities.

The Congress, the main Opposition in the state, has charged that your's is a non-performing government which is facing an unprecedented financial crisis. Is it true?
The Congress, which ruled the state for past more than three decades, failed miserably in providing even the basic amenities to its people. Naturally, now, when we have achieved so much in so less time, there is frustration in their camp. So far as the financial situation is concerned, certainly there is resource crunch, not because of any mismanagement, but because funds have been allocated for developmental schemes. Take for example the irrigation sector. During the Congress rule, the budgetary provision for this sector was Rs 132 crore. We have allocated Rs 1,500 crore to the Krishna Valley project alone. We have taken major risks. I am sure we will be able toimplement our plans.

Another charge of the Congress, particularly its president, Sonia Gandhi, is that now criminals are ruling the state.
The charge is baseless and false. Since we are heading for elections, the Congress is making such charges. Immediately after I took over the reigns of the state, I called for records of all the Congress leaders in the past three decades. I have received all relevant information from the Home Department. I was shocked and surprised to read the report. The criminal charges against the Congress leaders were very serious. Even those leaders whose names appear below Sonia Gandhi's cutouts figured in the list.

n Was Sonia referring to you?
Apparently yes. She was probably referring to the Sridhar Naik murder case of 1991 when the Congress was in power. In view of my popularity, the Congress falsely implicated me in the case. Though I was in Mumbai on that day when the incident took place in Sindhudurg, I was made a co-accused in the case. The thenSessions Judge, Suhas Barve, while granting me bail, clearly said that my implication in the case was politically motivated.Even the Sindhudurg session judge, who finally heard the case, acquitted me. He too made similar observations. I feel that such allegations are being levelled to settle political scores. I will advise Sonia Gandhi to first set her own house in order and then think of other political parties.

The bureaucracy appears to be on a course of confrontation with the government, particularly in view of the attack on senior officials and the abrupt transfer of high-profile Pune Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia. How do you propose to tackle this problem?
The Indian Administrative Service Association has sought an appointment with me to discuss their problems. I am meeting them next week. By and large, the morale of the bureaucracy is very high and it has been able to deliver the goods to the satisfaction of the political head of the state. However, there are some exceptions. I feelthat Bhatia falls in the second category. Once you join the civil service, you are part of the government and you have to follow the official code of conduct and discipline. In case of Bhatia, it was found that he released official and confidential correspondence to the media, mainly to embarrass the alliance government.

No doubt that he is one of the most honest officials in the state, but if he is resorting to publicity gimmicks, then it is unacceptable. I have also been informed that Bhatia became a victim of the on-going tussle between leading trade and business houses in Pune.

An offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Social Welfare Minister Babanrao Gholap. Will you sack him?
There is no proposal to sack Gholap. Let the court give a verdict, then we will decide. In the event he is guilty, he will be sacked immediately. By and large, such cases are filed out of political vengeance, particularly on the eve of elections.

During Joshi's tenure, therelations between the Sena and BJP were trained. How is the situation now?
After I became the Chief Minister, there is a marked improvement in the situation. I have set up a four-member cabinet committee comprising myself, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, Rural Development Minister Anna Dange and Education Minister Sudhir Joshi to resolve the differences. We have been able to resolve the row over providing free power to farmers and cotton prices.

In addition, the alliance partners will not entertain intra-alliance defections. For more effective functioning, a code of conduct has also been prescribed for all the Cabinet members as well as bureaucrats.