Confident that Khadse will return to cabinet soon: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said his government has completed two years in office without a scam taint and expressed confidence that senior leader Eknath Khadse would return to

Mumbai, Oct 29: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said his government has completed two years in office without a scam taint and expressed confidence that senior leader Eknath Khadse would return to the ministry soon.

Fadnavis also said investment in agriculture and infrastructure development was his priority. "Drought management was a challenge that my government faced with.

The long-term challenge is sustainable agriculture development and we are working on it," Fadnavis told mediapersons during an informal get-together here.

He said infrastructure projects worth Rs 75,000 crore have been initiated in Mumbai and other cities."Infrastructure development is my government's focus." "Opposition parties did not get an opportunity to target my government as there was no taint of scam.

Unsubstantiated allegations were made against some colleagues. But, I have replied to all the charges with proof," he said while replying to a query.

When asked about senior party leader Eknath Khadse who had to resign earlier this year over a series of charges, including irregularities in a land deal, Fadnavis said, "There was a conflict of interest. A committee has been set up to probe the matter and the report would be ready soon. I am confident that Khadse would be acquitted and will be back in the Cabinet."

When asked about the performance of his ministers, he said, "The performance is good. I had prepared key result areas (KRA) when I took over and made the ministers and secretaries sit together and discuss how they can achieve the target. I take quarterly reviews and the feedback is good."

Fadnavis said his government's endeavour was to improve governance and development. "The state has been described by a recent survey as the most innovative economy," he said.

When asked about the state's financial position, the Chief Minister said, "Loans are taken for development purpose. The debt is well within the parameters. We have changed the deployment of loan taken. It is now used only for capital investment."

PTI