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Chavan, Bhujbal to work to restore people’s trust

MUMBAI: The newly appointed Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, braved a large and unruly crowd of supporters and the media who invaded his residence on Friday evening after the Congress announced his name in New Delhi.

Mr. Chavan, who was the Industries Minister, said his first priority would be to restore some measure of confidence in people, who were suffering after the latest terror attacks. “It’s a challenge for me and a great responsibility to win the confidence of the people,” he said. He said there was no need for a celebration and the most important thing was to work together to fight terrorism.

He denied that MLAs were pressured to support him on Thursday and refused to comment on Narayan Rane’s outburst. He said the common man was not really keen on knowing who was the Chief Minister. All people wanted was good governance.

The government must take strong action to prevent such attacks in the future, he said. He said intelligence networks must be strengthened. He thanked his supporters and said people should respect the wishes of the high command and work together.

Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, who has been appointed Deputy Chief Minister by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, expressed his desire to work for the common people. He said his immediate priority would be to take steps to reassure people in the wake of fear and insecurity after the terror attacks. He said red tape must not come in the way of modernising the police and making sure they were up-to-date. It was natural for people to feel anger, fear and disappointment and to address that must be the government’s first priority.

Mr. Bhujbal, MLA from Yeola in Nashik district and a mechanical engineer, was in charge of Public Works Department in Vilasrao Deshmukh’s Cabinet. He is better known nationally as a leader of the Other Backward ClassesHe has already been a Deputy Chief Minister as well as Home Minister earlier.

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