‘There is no threat of cross-voting in RS polls'

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has had an eventful two-and-a-half months on the job after his party, the BJP, overthrew the Congress government just before the lockdown was clamped on March 25. Excerpts from an interview with Rahul Noronha:

- Rahul Noronha

Q. Were the first 75 days of this term the toughest of all your days as chief minister?

Challenges bring out the best in a leader. The coronavirus had already spread in Indore before I became CM, and there were no arrangements in place to deal with it. And it wasn’t the only challenge, the finances of the state had collapsed. In these 75 days, I have attempted to pull Madhya Pradesh out of the morass. Today, the virus is under control, active cases are down and the lockdown has helped us set up systems to deal with the situation right down to the base level. The Nisarga cyclone led to rainfall in the state and posed a challenge for the record 12.6 million tonnes of wheat we have procured. There were all sorts of adversities but we were equal to the challenge.

Q. How does the state plan to tide over the financial crisis? Should citizens brace themselves for new taxes or will the state cut back on its schemes?