I'll do my best in time available: CM

NAGPUR: For a man who has been pitchforked into the hot seat, chief minister Ashok Chavan���s demeanour is one of born-to-sit-in-the-chair. Politics runs in his blood and he has been attending cabinet meetings for a few years now. Little wonder he considers the job ���an easy one���.
���I know how the chief minister functions and I know what goes with the job,��� he says nonchalantly, without as much as batting an eyelid.Cocky? Nah. Confident? Well, umm... only time will tell.
It is customary for the chief minister to meet with senior journalists of Nagpur during the winter session of the state legislature. ���If it���s customary, why shouldn���t I do it,��� he asks. ���Oh, and I love meeting journalists,��� he adds with a wry smile. Nothing tongue-in-cheek here. ���Nowadays everything about me is a topic for discussion, including what I am wearing and how many times I am changing my clothes,��� this delivered tongue-firmly-in-cheek.
Not having met many chief ministers, or for that matter mere ministers, it is not fair to make comparisons. But having had conversations with a couple in the recent past, it can be pointed out that Chavan strikes you as a knowledgeable one and a doer. For most part of the 30-odd minute ���power breakfast���, the chief minister is speaking in fluent Marathi. But he switches to English with ease, and also makes his point lucidly.
���I never chased the CM���s post,��� he says candidly, chin tucked in a peculiar angle. ���It was given to me. I wouldn���t have accepted it had I felt I was not ready for it. Now that I am occupying the chair, I want to do my job competently.���
Chavan had every right to say a ���no��� to Madam in New Delhi. Mumbai was still coping up with 26/11. ���It was nothing but war by Pakistan.��� Then there was Narayan Rane���s tantrums. ���He���s shot himself in the foot.���
The failure of the city police and intelligence to thwart the terrorist attack had drawn adverse remarks from the Page 3 types to the plebeian. ���We needed the army or the NSG to counter the terrorists.���
���I know I don���t have much time to solve all the problems in the state,��� he says, locked fingers resting on a small sign of prosperity. ���But I will do the best in the time available. Elections are just round the corner.���