Q. Why did it take you 10 days to take up the Jammu and Kashmir PCC appointment? Were you unhappy that Sonia Gandhi did not consult you?
A. I did not sulk. I was suffering from spondylitis. Soniaji discussed this assignment with me on three occasions.

Q. Is the Srinagar posting a setback for you?
A. You can't show your skills in Jammu and Kashmir. There is no challenge, no scope for work. We become prisoners of security.

Q. Is the state party apparatus in fine fettle?
A. At present we have only six MLAs. Of the 46 seats in the Valley, we do not have a single one. We have no seats in the three Muslim majority districts in Jammu either.

Q. Have you been penalised for poking your nose in state politics?
A. I have spent the past 22 years outside the state. I won two Lok Sabha terms and a Rajya Sabha term from Maharashtra. My interest in state affairs is limited to being part of the party's Kashmir Affairs Committee.

Q. Are you a victim of your AICC colleagues' stratagem?
A. When people can't match your skills, they use the media to damage you. As AICC general secretary for 16 years, I've handled nearly all the states. The PCC task will round off my experience.

-Lakshmi Iyer

TREMORS Soap Suds on the Idiot Box
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	Koi Apna Sa: Another saas-bahu ghetto on Zee, this prime-time soap had an early plateau. Remains as such.
	Son Pari: This Neena Gupta production on Star about a fairy who brightens up people's lives has lost its spark.