Mumbai: Iqbal Singh Chahal, the IAS officer who was hailed for the best way he dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic in Mumbai, is now caught in the course of a political struggle between the 2 Shiv Senas — one led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and backed by the BJP, and the opposite led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray.
On Monday morning, Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) Commissioner Chahal spent 4 hours on the Enforcement Directorate’s Mumbai workplace, responding to allegations that he illegally awarded a contract for medical companies for a Jumbo Covid centre to an organization run by an affiliate of Sanjay Raut, Rajya Sabha MP from the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction of the Sena.
The complainant, on this case, was former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya who in a tweet Sunday mentioned he hoped Chahal “cooperates with the investigating businesses” and offers all of them the required data and paperwork.
However by Monday afternoon, Chahal additionally confronted brickbats from the Sena (UBT) over alleged irregularities in tenders for highway works for Mumbai value Rs 6,000 crore.
Talking to reporters, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Aaditya Thackeray mentioned he wrote to Chahal Monday, elevating questions on tenders floated by BMC for the concretisation of almost 400 kilometres of roads within the metropolis. Aaditya, nonetheless, maintained that he had nothing private towards Chahal: “Even when this letter is to the administrator, I’m not blaming him individually as a result of I don’t wish to make it private.”
A minister within the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) authorities, he additionally mentioned that for the reason that “BMC presently doesn’t have any corporators, mayor, standing committee or some other committees, it turns into the duty of the administrator who takes orders from the unconstitutional CM”. His barbs had been aimed toward Shinde, who had in June final yr rebelled towards the Thackeray-led Sena, bringing down the tripartite coalition that included the Nationalist Congress Celebration (NCP) and the Congress.
The time period of the BMC’s common physique expired on 8 March after which the state authorities, then headed by Uddhav Thackeray, appointed Chahal as an administrator until recent elections are held.
Chahal, an IAS officer from the 1989 batch, responded by dismissing each the allegations.
Exterior the ED workplace, he advised reporters that the Jumbo Covid centres had been arrange on the orders of the Maharashtra authorities and that “lakhs of lives had been saved due to well timed medical therapy”.
On the fees by Aaditya Thackeray, the BMC issued a press release saying, “The proposed concretisation of roads undertaken by BMC is as per administrative process. (There’s) No discrepancy within the tendering course of.”
Monday’s developments sum up Chahal’s almost three-year-long tenure as BMC chief throughout which he discovered himself in the course of the Shiv Sena-BJP proxy struggle — accused at first of serving the agenda of the Thackeray-led Sena, and now going through criticism for implementing the programmes of the incumbent BJP and Shinde-led Sena authorities.
ThePrint reached BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal by way of calls however didn’t obtain a response by the point of publication. This report will likely be up to date when a response is obtained.
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Out of favour with Modi govt, near Thackeray
In the course of the earlier MVA administration, Chahal — who was as soon as unceremoniously shunted from the Union authorities — was perceived to be near Thackeray, extra so when the federal government got here below hearth from the Opposition for Mumbai’s rising Covid tally. Chahal ultimately gained a number of awards and accolades for the BMC’s dealing with of the pandemic.
Below the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, Chahal was Officer on Particular Responsibility (OSD) to then Union Dwelling minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
In 2015, not lengthy after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took workplace, Chahal was transferred to the Ministry for Girls and Youngster Improvement. Right here, he was placed on obligatory depart reportedly after he had a ‘tiff’ with then WCD minister Maneka Gandhi.
In 2016, with three years nonetheless to go for his central deputation to finish, Chahal was prematurely repatriated to his mum or dad Maharashtra cadre.
Nevertheless, as soon as again in Maharashtra in 2019, he was posted in plum departments akin to water assets and concrete improvement below the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena authorities.
Chahal was appointed BMC chief in Could 2020 after then CM Thackeray dropped IAS Praveen Pardeshi — who was seen as near Fadnavis — as municipal commissioner over fees of alleged mishandling of the Covid disaster in its early months. Chahal was appointed as Pardeshi’s alternative although he was 4 years his junior.
Caught in a proxy struggle
Below the earlier MVA authorities, the BMC was below fixed hearth from the opposition BJP for sending demolition notices to these perceived as critics of the MVA, or notably the Thackeray-led Sena, below the garb of coping with “unlawful building”. These notices had been despatched to Union minister Narayan Rane, actor Kangana Ranaut, BJP chief Mohit Kamboj, and MP-MLA couple Navneet and Ravi Rana, amongst others.
In 2020, the BMC took a bulldozer to Ranaut’s workplace bungalow in Bandra at a time when the actor was caught in a confrontation with Sena leaders. The Maharashtra Human Rights Fee even issued a summons to Chahal on this regard, asking him to look earlier than the panel after the Bombay Excessive Court docket put aside the demolition order and directed BMC to compensate her for the damages incurred.
After he obtained a number of notices from the BMC in March 2022 searching for his response to allegations of finishing up unlawful building work in his constructing, Kamboj focused Chahal straight by calling for an revenue tax probe into Chahal’s “properties in the USA”. On the time, Chahal responded to the fees levelled towards him by Kamboj by saying, “I’ve zero properties within the USA. The allegations levelled towards me are baseless and an try to pull me into an issue.”
In June 2022, after the Shinde-led insurrection introduced down the MVA authorities and the Shinde-Fadnavis duo took over, Chahal continued as BMC commissioner. And he now finds himself keeping off criticism from the identical leaders he was accused of supporting.
In September final yr, when each the Shinde and Thackeray factions of the Sena had been making an attempt to safe permission to carry the occasion’s annual Dussehra rally at Dadar’s landmark Shivaji Park, the BMC turned each down. Whereas the Shinde camp additionally utilized for permission for Bandra Kurla Complicated grounds instead, the Thackeray camp was banking on its conventional venue, Shivaji Park. The Thackeray-led faction ultimately obtained reduction from the Bombay HC which mentioned the BMC had “misused its energy”.
The Thackeray-led Sena additionally objected to BMC’s resolution to not relieve its worker Rutuja Latke from service citing technical difficulties. Latke was the (UBT) Sena’s candidate for the essential Andheri East bypoll held final November. The (UBT) Sena alleged that Chahal was intentionally stalling to simply accept Latke’s resignation below stress from CM Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis. However like within the case of the Dussehra rally, the Bombay HC ultimately cleared the decks for Latke to contest the bypoll, which she gained.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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