Deshmukh takes charge, denies ill will

“There was no question of my being unhappy. I was not here and was earlier busy with the Mumbai Cricket Association elections. I came back yesterday and took the charge today,” he said after taking charge.

Asked if he felt demoted after his shifting from the rural development ministry, Deshmukh said: “It is no demotion. The prime minister is the chairman of the department, where I am the vice chairman. How can you call this demotion?”

He said science and technology is the subject of the future and it was wrong to say that technology was not reaching the common man.

“Many latest innovations were coming to the aid of the common man. Technology would drive the future,” Deshmukh maintained.