Mumbai Confidential: Setting the stage

Uddhav Thackeray

The stage is being set for allies BJP and Shiv Sena to come together again. Sources said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior BJP leaders are leaving no stone unturned to stitch a pre-poll pact with Sena in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It also seems that Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is not entirely averse to such overtures. On Saturday, Thackeray shared dais with Amit Shah’s close aide and state Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil. The duo, who travelled in the same car to the venue, was also accompanied by Thackeray’s personal secretary, Milind Narvekar. With Thackeray stating that the allies can come together for laying the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and that his party was not against the government, speculation is rife that the stage is set for alliance talks to commence.

Turf war

A tussle between the political executive and the senior bureaucracy has been a constant in the Fadnavis government from Day 1, with several Cabinet ministers not getting along well with their department secretaries. There seems to be no end to it. We are now hearing that a senior BJP minister has complained that his department’s secretary is working at odds with his office and not consulting it on crucial matters. The matters have reached such a head that the CMO has had to step in.

Role matters

In July, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis transferred Additional Chief Secretary Shamlal Goyal as the resident commissioner and additional chief secretary of the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi. But reluctant to shift immediately to Delhi, the 1985-batch IAS officer didn’t join duty. But even as he has continued in his position as ACS (Water Supply and Sanitation), sources said that his transfer order was not withdrawn. Consequently, Additional Resident Commissioner Samir Sahai (1987 batch, IFS) has had to fill in as resident commissioner in additional capacity. Sahai also holds another additional charge, that of commissioner (Investment and Protocol). With several parts of Maharashtra under the spectre of a drought, it could be a while before Goyal finally shifts to Delhi.

On Poll Duty

More than 80 IAS officers from the state won’t be available for their routine duties for most part of November and some days in December, with the Election Commission appointing them as poll observers in the five states where elections will be held between November 12 and December 7. While this accounts for almost one-fifth of the IAS’ cadre strength in the state, sources said that the pace of work at the state secretariat is unlikely to be affected. Most of those assigned poll duties belong to the middle and the junior rungs of the bureaucracy. Sources also pointed out that the poll observers will go at different dates depending on the election schedule. Incidentally, the Winter Session of the state Assembly will commence from November 19.

Waiting List

In a drought year, the state has gone without a full-time agriculture secretary for over two months now. The key post had fallen vacant on August 31, following the retirement of Bijay Kumar. While Baldev Singh, who is currently on central deputation, is being seen as a frontrunner for the post, the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training is yet to issue formal orders confirming his repatriation to the state. While Singh was appointed as the development commissioner in the Santa Cruz Exclusive Processing Zone, SEZ Mumbai, in July 2017, for five years, the state had sought his repatriation after he offered to return to the state cadre. In the absence of a full-time secretary, Eknath Dawle, who has holds the post of principal secretary (Water Conservation), has been holding fort.

Order… Order

After receiving complaints that some CEOs of smart city missions in the state were bypassing the authority of the commissioners of their municipality, Devendra Fadnavis-led urban development department has now made it clear that the CEOs will function under their commissioners and also have to report to them. Sources said that directives had to be issued since there had been cases where the CEOs had directly approached the guardian secretary’s (chairman, Smart City missions) for tour approvals and various permissions keeping the civic heads in the dark.

Compiled by Sandeep Ashar