Wadettiwar seeks transfer of Chahal, Bhide, Velrasu following ECI directives

Wadettiwar, who is 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

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.

Mumbai, India - June 17, 2019: Vijay Namdevrao Wadettiwar along with his daughter, during the monsoon session at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, India, on Monday, June 17, 2019. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Wadettiwar, who is 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 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (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 written to the chief election commission on March 6.

In another letter, Wadettiwar also demanded the transfer of additional municipal commissioner Sudhakar Shinde, who is an IRS rank officer, alleging that his appointment was made by the state government to influence the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Chahal was appointed as municipal commissioner on May 8, 2020, as the then government had decided to target IAS officer Praveen Pardeshi heading BMC. He is an IAS officer of the 1989 batch. Bhide was appointed in the BMC on May 9, 2020, and was later transferred as managing director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. But she continued to hold charge as AMC of Mumbai Eastern Suburbs. She is an IAS officer of the 1995 batch and is of principal secretary rank. P Velrasu was the additional municipal commissioner in charge of projects in the BMC. He is an IAS officer of the 2002 batch and was posted in BMC on January 17, 2020.