Days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis vowed not to allow officials with a “fixer” image in ministers’ offices, the Opposition Congress has accused him of applying double standards by not demanding the resignation of tainted ministers. “Maharashtra’s Chief Minister referred to certain PAs, OSDs, and PSes as fixers, casting doubt on all officials. If he is serious about this, he must reveal the names of these 16 officers and the ministers they served under,” said Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal. Questioning why ministers facing charges remained in the cabinet while officials were being removed, Sapkal said, “We have already demanded that ministers Dhananjay Munde and Manikrao Kokate be removed. Why is there a separate rule for ministers.” Munde’s close aide, Walmik Karad, is currently jailed in connection with the murder of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Beed district’s Massajog village. Meanwhile, Kokate was found guilty by a Nashik magistrate court of cheating and forgery in a decades-old case, though he has sought a stay on the conviction. On Monday, Fadnavis reiterated his stance, stating, “I will not allow fixers as the PS/OSD of cabinet ministers.” He also emphasised that strict norms for appointing ministerial office staff would be enforced. Last week, the Maharashtra government held a special two-day training session in Pune for ministers’ office personnel. Sapkal also accused the BJP-led central government of systematically reducing Maharashtra’s significance by shifting key offices out of the state. “The central government has now relocated Mumbai’s Patent Office to Delhi. Since Narendra Modi took office as Prime Minister, there has been a deliberate effort to weaken Mumbai and Maharashtra. Several key offices, including the proposed Coastal Police Headquarters in Palghar and the International Financial Center planned for Mumbai, have been shifted — many to Gujarat. The Modi government is looting Maharashtra, while those in power here act as their agents,” Sapkal said. Meanwhile on this background, a new controversy has erupted over the appointment of M/s Gujarat Infotech Ltd.-Ahmedabad based company to run nine citizen facilitation centres popularly known as 'SETU' (a 'bridge' to connect the administration with the general public) across coastal Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra.
