Awaiting transfer, Thane’s civic chief ‘leaves’ corp for ‘detox tour’

THANE: Thane municipal chief Sanjeev Jaiswal on Wednesday announced his voluntary exit from the corporation where he had served for over five years and two months even as formal orders regarding his transfer from the government are yet to be issued. Jaiswal, an IAS officer of the 1996 batch, has proceeded on leave for a fortnight. He has been seeking a transfer since 2018.
It is learnt recent differences within his team over internal transfers proved to be the breaking point.
Jaiswal, who is known to have had an action-packed tenure, said he is embarking on a 10-day “detox tour” to the north, including Himachal Pradesh and Dharamshala, starting Thursday, and has handed over charge to his subordinate, additional commissioner Rajendra Ahiwar.
Jaiswal’s exit, just days before the civic budget, has taken both activists and politicians by surprise. While he refused to cite the reason for his sudden exit, it is learnt the commissioner was upset over an alleged “vertical split” in the administration with a few subordinates seeking political intervention in a series of transfers. Jaiswal has been in the news for frequent tiffs with the political class during his tenure.
He told mediapersons on Wednesday it was his final interaction with them and he did not wish to continue and was awaiting his next posting. He said he was happy as the lake city’s residents had showered him with love.
Meanwhile, he is believed to have surrendered his official car on Wednesday and is also likely to vacate his official bungalow at Patalipada in Thane and relocate to a personal residence in Bandra after he returns from the north.