He said resignation of Joshi never figured in the two-day party meeting, which concluded this morning at Panvel. Referring to a news report in a section of the press, Thakre said, "It was amusing."

Jocularly praising the media's flight of imagination, the BJP president said the meeting was a meant to be a brainstorm on the future strategy for strengthening party organisation in the state. (Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray ruled out changing the state chief minister and asked the BJP to consult him before even taking up the matter for discussion. ``They should not have approached the newspapers,'' said the Sena chief, coming out of his self-proclaimed political sabbatical of three months.

Thakre was passing through the city after the party conclave held at Karnala to chalk out future strategy for theMaharashtra BJP.

Though the meeting took a comprehensive review of the State Government's performance, no leadership questions were ever raised, Thakre said. He was satisfied with the government's performance in general and the BJP ministers in particular, he added.

On law and order too, the BJP president gave a clean chit to Maharashtra government. He said if the crime statistics are anything to go by, law and order in Maharashtra had actually improved recently. ``It is utopian to expect a crime-free state,'' he asserted.

Thakre, who last week had expressed concerns about law and order in UP, today said that even there, the situation was not all that bad. The Kalyan Singh government had got a very high crime rate in legacy and it would take some time before normalcy could be restored.

He admitted that the situation in Tamil Nadu was bad. He refused to make any more comments on the matter saying it was up to the Union Government to take necessary action in the matter.

Referring to organisationalmatters, the BJP president said the party would now concentrate on the forthcoming Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram. A decision on appointment of guardian ministers of the party in various states would also be taken shortly, he added.

He noted that the political scenario in the state had undergone a change after the last Lok Sabha elections. The alliance's victory in the recent by-elections in Congress strongholds like Satara, Rahuri, and Kagal, showed how the situation was changing in favour of the alliance.

On the reported cross voting by two BJP MLAs in the biennial Rajya Sabha and legislative council polls in Maharashtra, Thakre said the issue was not very serious.