THANE: Accusing a few elected representatives of defamation and personal attacks that were affecting his family, Thane municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal shocked the corporation’s general body on Tuesday by stating that he did not wish to continue. Jaiswal , 46, appealed to the 131-member assembly to pass a motion of no confidence against him so that the government is forced to transfer him from Thane, where he has served since 2015. Addressing the corporators and mayor Meenakshi Shinde, he said if the government did not transfer him by April, he would go on long leave.The sudden, emotional plea from the IAS officer, popular for taking up daunting projects to better Thane, especially anti-encroachment drives, took both residents and corporators by surprise. But the storm had been brewing for some time: Jaiswal, who reportedly enjoyed CM Devendra Fadnavis’s support, was having a tough time with a few political leaders, including from the BJP, for the last few months.The immediate trigger for Tuesday’s outburst was a BJP corporator’s criticism of the civic administration. Volunteering to address the general assembly, Jaiswal said: “I cannot function if there is an increasing trend of mistrust in my way of operations. Few elected representatives seem to be bent on trying to defame me. I do not wish to continue as the municipal commissioner here. I am open to debates on administrative issues, but one cannot get personal.”Jaiswal said he was being targeted by a few “vested” interests who were bent on tarnishing his image. “The residents have full faith in me and if some elected representatives don’t want to work with me, the general body is free to pass a no-confidence motion against me so that the state government will be compelled to transfer me,” he said.Sources close to the Thane municipal commissioner said the bitterness started soon after he assumed office and was seen as responsible for some corporators being disqualified. The hostilities ballooned after a former corporator accused the TMC of granting excess FSI to a redevelopment project. Last week, a senior BJP leader drafted a PIL opposing a proposal on the agenda of the general body meeting and raised questions over the functioning of the civic administration. It is said the mayor was upset about Jaiswal’s drives pulling down shanties for road widening while allegedly going slow on hookah parlours and hotels flouting fire safety norms.The situation took an ugly turn last November when a ‘fake’ video clip was widely circulated alleging victimization of a domestic help at the commissioner’s bungalow.“I have worked hard for the city and put in my best to bring it on the national map by undertaking several initiatives. I agree that while undertaking developmental works, there are bound to be differences, but not to the extent that it could get personal and reach my family,” he told TOI.Jaiswal said he was planning to go on leave from Tuesday, but deferred after getting an assurance of a transfer soon. “If not, I will go on long leave,” he said.Politicians cutting across parties supported Jaiswal. “We have been with the commissioner and I have personally congratulated him on his various achievements for the city in the recent past. His decision to not work in Thane comes as a shock,” said BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar NCP’s Mumbra MLA Jitendra Awhad said: “Why should he think of leaving the battlefield when all he is doing is his work? Our party stands by the commissioner and his work as he has done a lot for the city during his tenure.”TIMES VIEW: The politicians’ chief charge against the Thane civic commissioner seems to be not that he is slow-moving and loath to take action; it is that his policies and priorities do not quite match theirs and sometimes clash. That’s not reason enough for him to be allowed to go. The CM and state must step in and speak to both the netas and the civic chief to make sure they work together, and if local political functionaries and elected representatives pose obstacles in the way of good work, it is the obstacles that must go, not the official.

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