MVA shunts 22 babus, some close to ex-CM

In a major reshuffle, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has transferred 22 bureaucrats, including the DirectorGeneral of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) Brijesh Singh and the Additional Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Pravin Darade, known for their proximity to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Singh will continue as special inspector general, cyber crime, while Darade will now be Pune's new social welfare commissioner. Sindhudurg district collector DD Pandharpatte will be the new DGIPR.

The Congress and Nationalist

Congress Party (NCP) have been strident in their demand for the transfers of Singh and Darade, who were pampered by the previous BJP-led government. Now that Darade's posting will be in

Pune, he will have to vacate the imposing bungalow at Malabar

Hill. There was a huge controversy after it was allotted to him in

2014, when he was the additional municipal commissioner. His wife Pallavi Darade is the food and drug commissioner, Maharashtra.

Former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had alleged that Darade had helped Vidarbha Infotech, an information technology company, to bag the contract for towing vehicles that had violated parking rules in Mumbai. Darade was then the additional commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and secretary to Fadnavis. However, Fadnavis's office had clarified that there was no wrongdoing in the awarding of the towing contract to Vidarbha Infotech.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Sachin Sawant had targeted Brijesh Singh for alleged mismanagement in tendering for the 'Mi Mukhyamantri Boltoy' television show. These allegations too were refuted by Fadnavis's office.