'Why should I quit?'

Sixty-eight year old Romesh Bhandari is at the heart of a raging controversy involving his conduct as governor of Uttar Pradesh.

In this interview with Sharat Pradhan, Bhandari claims he is often misunderstood; ''because of being misquoted by the media'' and that everything has been sorted out between him and the Union home minister, who, he claims, has also ''been misquoted by the press.''

Why is it that the Union home minister went to the extent of describing your rule as anarchical and UP's law and order position as the worst possible?

It is the media which is responsible for it. The media has been distorting facts and manufacturing news against me. From what I gathered from my initial talks with Mr Indrajit Gupta, it was amply clear that he was referring to the prevailing political anarchy in the state. After all, he is aware of the actual law and order situation here. A comparative chart of the crime levels during my period and the five preceding years will prove beyond doubt that law and order has in fact improved during my tenure of President's rule.

Did you speak to Mr Gupta?

Yes I did, first on the telephone. I later met him in Delhi. And let me tell you, I have been able to convince him about the law and order situation in UP.

Did he clarify his position?

No, he did not give any clarification nor did I seek one. We are good friends and that's it.

Don't you think there are sufficient reasons for you to quit?

Certainly not. Tell me, why should I quit?

Did you speak to the prime minister in this regard?

Yes, I did and he is fully satisfied with the law and order in Uttar Pradesh.

How do you react to BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee's suggestion that a standing committee of Parliament monitor the overall functioning of the state during President's rule?

It is for Parliament to decide. Parliament is supreme. The governor has to work strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. And that's what I am doing.

Controversies, one after the other, have enhanced your reputation as the country's most controversial governor.

I don't mind being labelled controversial because controversies emerge only when one is a man of action. You sit pretty and don't do anything and there will be no controversies. You take no decisions and there will be no problems. Regretably, I am made as a man of action.

Why do controversies keep chasing you?

Let me recall what Mr V K Krishna Menon once told me while I was working with him, that he did not chase controversies but controversies chased him. At least it gives me publicity, he said. .

Is that the same case with you?

I happen to be in the news because I am always active. In a way perhaps I am not stereotyped. I am what I am; and I prefer to be what I am than to become a carbon copy of somebody else.

It is being said that with Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, you have a convenient quid pro quo; while he holds a brief for you in Delhi, you allow him to run the state by proxy.

Now this is again a canard being spread by my critics, who are bent upon twisting and turning everything that I say or do. I am sure all this would not have happened and the media would have been quite pleased if I had sworn in the BJP.