Joseph’s gone, no sign of successor

Smita Deshmukh & Sanjay Sawant

MUMBAI: The BMC officials are disconcerted at being rendered headless on the eve of the monsoons, and it appears the successor of Johny Joseph, the outgoing commissioner, will be chosen only on Thursday. The decision on the top civic post will be taken after Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh consults his new chief secretary – Johny Joseph.

Joseph assumed that role on Monday evening, taking over from DK Sankaran who has retired. 

Joseph handed over BMC’s charge to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manu Srivastava amid hectic lobbying for the post orchestrated by the IAS cadre.

As of now, the four contenders are: Subodh Kumar, principal secretary (finance); Jairaj Phatak, principal secretary (urban development); GS Gill, principal secretary (transport and state excise); and Ramanand Tiwari, additional chief secretary (urban development).

A source in Mantralaya who is familiar with circumstances of the race said Subodh Kumar, a 1977 batch officer who has worked as additional municipal commissioner, is pushing his claim hard.

Till last week, Phatak (1978 batch) was being tipped to succeed Joseph. But by Monday evening, lobbying by other officers made the race difficult to predict as Gill (1976 batch) emerged as a serious contender.

Tiwari (1972 batch), who is known to be close to the chief minister, may not make it as he has only nine months to retire.

Besides, the CM is said to be happy with his handling of the urban development department.