I AM GLAD that you propose to celebrate, in a befitting manner, the 48th birthday of Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, at Nagpur. It is indeed fitting that Nagpur should have the honour of celebrating Shri Chavan's birthday, in view of the keen interest evinced by him in the development of Vidarbha as well as of Marathwada.
I have had the privilege of knowing Shri Chavan for a number of years. I am greatly impressed by the breadth of his vision, and the humanity of his outlook; he has a peculiar capacity of winning over people by his frankness, informality and above all, sympathetic understanding of the other persons’ point of view. As the Chief Minister of the Bilingual State of Bombay and now of the State of Maharashtra, Shri Chavan had to face many knotty problems which he has solved with sagacity and understanding. Shri Chavan has the unique gift of combining political idealism with economic realism—a difficult feat indeed. On the one hand, the political ideals and aspirations of the people have got to be realised; on the other hand, it would not be possible to overlook the hard realities of the economic situation. May Shri Chavan have always the wisdom and the courage to follow the right path of economic advancement to realise the aspirations of the people.
There is a bright future for Shri Chavan and on this 48th Birthday, I would like to extend to him my heartiest congratulations and felicitations for many happy returns and a long life of service to the country.
R. G. SARAIYA