Although he is just a few days away from becoming Assam's sixteenth chief minister, Tarun Gogoi is as unassuming as he has been all his life. But the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee and chief minister-designate permits himself a huge smile as supporters throng his residence to celebrate the Congress's return to power in Assam exactly after five years.

For Gogoi, a member of Parliament from Koliabor, years of hard work have finally fructified with the Congress securing close to 70 seats in the 126-member state assembly. In an interview with G Vinayak on Monday morning, he spoke about his priorities and the way he wants to deal with the myriad problems of Assam. Excerpts:

Will you follow the tradition set by your predecessors in making large-scale administrative changes after assuming office?

We will not adopt any vindictive attitude towards anyone. Officials need not fear on that count. But, at the same time, they must be able to deliver the goods. We want efficiency and transparency in governance.

The state is faced with so many problems. How do you propose to tackle them?

The biggest problem we have is of large-scale unemployment, which leads to the youth turning to insurgency. So my first priority will be to create more employment opportunities.

Given the precarious position of the state's finances, where the government cannot even pay salaries to its employees, how do you plan to set it right?

The state's financial position is indeed precarious. At this moment, I do not want to go into the reasons for such a state of affairs, but I will seek some time from the employees to evolve a solution. We expect the Centre too to contribute in solving this problem.

Would the fact that there is a NDA government in power at the Centre hamper your efforts in any way?

I hope not, because the prime minister himself knows the conditions prevailing in Assam. Just because the BJP-AGP alliance could not gain power here should not colour the Centre's judgement.

What is the solution to the insurgency problem?

First, let me make it very clear that the solution to any insurgency has to be political and not military, so, to that extent, our approach is clear. As I have said before, insurgency is the product of large-scale unemployment and poverty. If we take steps to alleviate that problem, insurgency will automatically be controlled.

The militants do not seem to be interested in talks with the government. How will you overcome this obstacle?

I will ask the Centre to follow the same principles as it has done in Nagaland -- of declaring a cease-fire and holding talks with the groups there although they have not given up their demand for sovereignty. The Centre must follow the same policy with respect to Assam too.

Finally, when do you propose to take over?

Our general secretary in-charge of Assam, Kamal Nath, is arriving here and we will have a meeting of all elected MLAs. After that we will start the process of government formation.

There is no doubt about your taking over as chief minister, is there?

Should there be? I have led the campaign and have, in fact, won three elections in succession for the party.

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