This is the bed-rock of his political career. The Prime Minister has chosen him to be at the helm of the affairs of the Defence Ministry after the China debacle. Naturally, every one in the House is happy because 'Sahyadri has been called upon to defend the Himalayas', as they call it.

Now it is time for him to receive only bouquets, though he says he leaves Maharashtra with a heavy heart to discharge a far more important responsibility.

A special effort has been made to enhance the utility of this volume by providing summary in English of each speech, notes, index and titles. It is felt that this volume will meet adequately the requirements of the researchers in the field.

Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan was to many of my generation a unique embodiment of patriotism and was a beacon light to us. I was craving to put in shape his speeches and correspondence. I am indebted to Shri Sharadrao Pawar, present Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Chairman of Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, who gave me an opportunity to fulfil my desire. I am also thankful to him for writing the Foreword to this volume. I express my thanks to the members of Advisory Committee for their valuable guidance in this matter. I must also express my gratitude to Shri Anant Thorat, Librarian, Vidhan Bhavan Library and his staff particularly Sarvashri S.K.Upadhyay and Pashtekar for their voluntary and ungrudging help in making debates volumes and other relevant material available to us. I am grateful to my colleagues for their unstinted co-operation and help in preparing the press copy of this volume. Finally my thanks are due to the soft-spoken Madhavrao Bhagwat of Mouj Printing Bureau and his staff for printing this publication without delay.

V.G.Khobrekar
Bombay.
4-11-1989