If the news that I had hidden money in my water tank was true, do you think this regime would have spared me? I would have been behind bars. After February First, my hands are as good as tied and my mouth as good as plastered because they've kept me under house arrest. Even my household help was not allowed to go out. While I was being kept captive, they launched a propaganda against me through print media and television. They conspired against me and said I had hidden money in my water tank. They filmed a scene recovering money from someone else's water tank and labelled my name on the entire episode before airing it on tv. And here I was under house arrest, helpless and unable to defend myself. Does this not expose the political culture of the present regime?

Can anyone prove that I illegally earned even one paisa while I was finance minister? I was chief of the financial department of the party. Even there, I maintained the accounts up-to-date. I still don't have my own house and live in rented premises. I don't own a car and am not ashamed to walk. I am a poor country's politician. When so many people live in poverty, why should I lead a luxurious life? When I was the finance minister, the revenue increased by 33 percent. Now the finance minister himself is saying the revenue has dropped. How come?

I did not agree to raise royal palace expenses. Compared to the previous year, I brought down the army's budget by Rs 430 million in order to persuade the Maoists to come for peace talks. In the meantime, the army has been blaming me. But the Maoists called us servants of the king and insisted on talking only to him.