Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says government experience is viewed as important in some quarters, but he does not know if Rahul Gandhi joining the government after 2009 elections would have been better for Congress' prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.

Asked if Rahul should have joined the government earlier as it would have been beneficial to the party, Chavan told PTI in an interview: "Well, some people feel that to get a government experience is important. Otherwise we tend to think like an NGO from outside. "There are compulsions of running a coalition government. There are compulsions of addressing conflicting aspirations of different sections of society," he said.

The senior Congress leader's views came in the backdrop of Union minister Milind Deora's recent statement that if Rahul Gandhi had joined the UPA government in 2009, it would have made a big difference to the fortunes of the party.