NAGPUR, MAY 31: Maharashtra Chief Secretary and the high profile bureaucrat, Arun Bongirwar, is likely to be replaced either by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), M R Patil or Ajit Nimbalkar, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1967 batch.Bongirwar, who got plum postings in the Congress raj as well as the Sena-BJP regime, had superseded several IAS officers when he was elevated as Chief Secretary during the saffron regime. He also served as the Secretary to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) during the Congress regime as well as the Sena-BJP rule. Bongirwar served as Secretary to Sudhakarrao Naik (Congress) and Manohar Joshi (Sena-BJP) during their stints as chief minister.According to reliable sources, Vilasrao Deshmukh government is under pressure from its principal ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to remove Bongirwar immediately and appoint Nimbalkar, a blue-eyed officer of Maratha strongman, Sharad Pawar.Nimbalkar, was in the news during the regime of Sharad Pawar when the senior IAS officer was the chairman of Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). He was instrumental for the negotiations between the State Government, MSEB, as well as Enron. The saffron government dumped the senior IAS officer during its four and a half year tenure.Immediately after the installation of the DF government in October last it was almost certain that Bongirwar will be replaced. However, it did not materlise as the Lok Sabha member from Nagpur, Vilas Muttemwar, protege of Bongirwar, succeeded in wooing the Chief Minister. Muttemwar is a close confident of Deshmukh.Many senior leaders of the ruling coalition are reportedly unhappy over the functioning of the State bureaucrats and blaming Bongirwar for the `mess.' They also held him responsible for the leakages of several secret decisions of the present government, including the leakage of `white paper on state of financial affairs of Maharashtra.'However, the government is also scared to appoint Nimbalkar for the coveted post. If he gets it, a dozen of senior IAS officials will be superseded. Hence, name of M R Patil is also being considered for the post.Patil, a 1966 batch-mate of Bongirwar, has served as divisional commissioner, Nagpur, Managing Director, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Principal Secretary, State Labour Department and Additional Chief Secretary, Technical and Higher Education. He belongs to Nagpur.By appointing Patil, the DF government is likely to kill two birds with one stone. It will be able to replace Bongirwar and appoint a bureaucrat from dalit community. If Patil gets the job, he will be the second dalit IAS officer in the State, to get the highest post in the bureaucracy after P G Gavai.According to information, the Republican Party of India (RPI) leader and Rajya Sabha member, R S Gavai, is lobbying for Patil. The NCP is likely to accept the proposal if there is a resentment among IAS officers on the posting of Nimbalkar.Meanwhile, the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) chairman, Wasudeorao Gorde, has been asked to continue. The Mantralaya had issued a transfer order of Gorde by appointing Nanak Ramteke in his place. However, Gorde succeeded in stalling the transfer through his mentor, Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal. Ramteke, a protege of Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Patil and the Congress legislator, Nitin Raut, surprisingly was given a very low profile posting of Director, Maharashtra State Mining Corporation (MSMC), a post earlier held by an officer of the rank of Additional Collector. The State government has upgraded the post by appointing Ramteke.
