MUMBAI: Differences have arisen between Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde over the appointment of Asia's largest and richest civic body chief.
The incumbent BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who is a 1994 IAS officer will set to retire on March 31 this year.
If the decision over the next BMC chief is not taken on time, then Mr Gagrani may be given the extensions on technical grounds.
According to the senior and eligibility criteria, there are three senior-most IAS officers, Ashwini Joshi, Aseem Gupta and Sanjay Mukherjee, who are contending for this coveted top post.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has been batting for 1995 IAS officer Ashwini Bhide, while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is pushing for 1994 IAS officer Asim Gupta.
Ashwini Bhide is known very close to CM Devendra Fadnavis, while Aseem Gupta is close to Eknath Shinde. Gupta was earlier the Thane Municipal Commissioner, whose home place is that of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Sources said that Ashwini Bhide is task master and she was also instrumental in pushing the metro network and crashed at Aray by cutting the trees despite concern from the environmentalists.
“It is the dream of every IAS officer to become the commissioner of BMC or state chief secretary, while every IPS officer wants to be the Mumbai police commissioner or the director general of Maharashtra police. Therefore, each IAS officer is pushing their case for the top post,” said a source who requested anonymity.