WADETTIWAR SEEKS TRANSFER OF CHAHAL, BHIDE, VELRASU
MUMBAI: Opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday wrote letters to the Election Commission of India (ECI) requesting the transfer of municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and additional municipal commissioners Ashwini Bhide and P Velrasu on the grounds that they have completed three years on their respective positions and are required to be moved out following the rules of the election commission.
Wadettiwar, who represents the Bramhapuri constituency from Congress, also requested the ECI to issue transfer orders for the said officers as the state government is still not willing to transfer them despite directives issued by the poll body recently.
The development comes days after the ECI rejected the state government’s plea to allow municipal commissioners and additional commissioners of various corporations, including those from BMC to continue in their posts. On February 22, the ECI told the state that commissioners and additional commissioners were also covered in the transfer policy. As a result, Chahal, Bhide and Velrasu are due for transfer.
In the wake of general elections, the ECI directed all the state governments to transfer officers who served an establishment for more than three years before January 31. However, the state sent a letter to ECI via the state chief electoral officer to exempt them because works related to monsoon were being carried out under their supervision. “The intention of the state government is malafide and unduly influence the election process… For the last two years, the affairs of BMC have been in the hands of the municipal commissioner as its administrator. Due to continuous intervention, the funds have been spent only in constituencies of former corporators of ruling parties. It is crystal clear the state government is avoiding their transfer,” he said in a two-page letter.
In another letter, Wadettiwar also demanded the transfer of additional municipal commissioner Sudhakar Shinde, an IRS rank officer, alleging that his appointment was made by the state government to influence the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.