Substantial amounts have been raised bypassing the limit laid down by the Planning Commission, said Pawar at a meeting with the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) here today.

``I am, however, not worried as I have noticed during my recent visits to 75 per cent of the State's districts that people have made up their minds to throw out the present Government and hand over the reins of the State to Congress,'' the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

He said improvement in the economic situation of the State would take some time and that too, only after having had to take ``unpopular, hard decisions''.

The former Maharashtra chief minister said that a lot of money has been raised by the State Government, but not all has gone into infrastructure building.

On ShivSena supremo Bal Thackeray's vitriolic attack on noted Marathi poet Vasant Bapat, Pawar said, ``No civilized person would utter them, but it is not new. Other litterateurs like P L Deshpande too, have experienced it earlier.''

He, however, opined, ``If one or two persons' behaviour goes against Maharashtra's culture and civilisation, one should not take it seriously.''

On suggestions that politicians be kept away from literary platforms, Pawar said that there has to be a continuous dialogue between politicians and litterateurs, but literary forums should not be misused by politicians.

On the change of guard in the State, he said, ``The change makes no difference, as after all the remote control (Thackeray) is going to work. Manohar Joshi showed some signs of being independent, but the new incumbent would not have even that.''

He said the Sena and BJP have no future in Maharashtra as ``Thackeray has done enough to spoil all their chances''.