E-Paper
Narhari has to go, finally
IN AN inexplicable volte-face the State Government on Wednesday issued transfer orders of Indore Municipal Commissioner P Narhari, replacing him with Vinod Sharma, currently posted as Additional Collector, Gwalior.
IN AN inexplicable volte-face the State Government on Wednesday issued transfer orders of Indore Municipal Commissioner P Narhari, replacing him with Vinod Sharma, currently posted as Additional Collector, Gwalior.
The marching orders came less than 24 hours after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan mandated district in-charge minister Himmat Kothari to evolve a consensus among warring BJP factions on who should man the post.
Narhari handed over charge to Additional Commissioner Ramesh Bhandari after receiving the transfers from General Administration Department.
He is expected to leave for Bhopal tomorrow, where he would take charge as Project Coordinator in Woman and Child Welfare Department.
The transfer, overriding protests by Mayor Dr Uma Shashi Sharma and three BJP MLAs, and carried out before district in-charge Kothari could have even preliminary talks with the two factions led by Sumitra Mahajan and PWD Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has yet again underscored the latter’s clout in the Shivraj Singh regime.
What price the City will have to pay for the BJP’s factionalism, which resulted in an honest and widely admired official being axed, is something only time will tell.
I tried my best: Mayor
MAYOR DR Uma Shashi Sharma: We tried our best to ensure that the civic body is headed by an IAS official, but failed. It is not a question of preferring Narhari; we only did that because he was honest and efficient. We also believe that an officer of the all-India services possesses better administrative skills than his State-level counterpart.
I would like to make one thing clear though, whoever is appointed Commissioner will have to operate by the rules and as per the Municipal Corporation Act.
