MUMBAI: A post usually shunned by IAs officers – the general manager of the distressed BEST undertaking – ended up with two officers at the helm, leaving the Mahayuti government with egg on its face and the target of jibes from the opposition.
The post of general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), an undertaking of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which falls under the jurisdiction of the state urban development department (UDD), fell vacant on July 31, when SVR Srinivas retired.
On August 5, the UDD issued an order asking additional municipal commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi to hold additional charge of the undertaking, which runs Mumbai’s public bus service and supplies power to the island city. Joshi was to head the BEST until the state general administration department (GAD) issued a regular order on a new appointee. However, that same day, the GAD appointed GST commissioner Asheesh Sharma to take over the beleaguered BEST undertaking. As a result, the BEST had two officers at the helm, at the same time, even if only for a day.
After the faux pas was discovered, the UDD issued a statement late on Wednesday, denying it had issued the order assigning charge to Joshi.
The gaffe has put the BJP-led Mahayuti government in an awkward spot. The opposition claims it has once again exposed the tug-of-war between deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the former heading the UDD and the latter the GAD. According to protocol, the GAD issues orders on government appointments and transfers, not the UDD or any other department.
State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal posted on social media, saying: “1 post, 2 orders, 2 leaders, is this a double gang war of the double engine government?” A “gang war” is ongoing between Fadnavis and Shinde over the transfer of officials, he claimed, adding that in view of this struggle to appoint people in “lucrative positions”, the public is left wondering whether it is a government or a turf war.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar also took potshots at the BJP-led government. “As soon as the post of General Manager in BEST became vacant, it seems a race has begun between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to place ‘their’ person in this position,” he wrote on social media.
The BEST has been in financial distress for several years. Political pressure and aggressive staff unions have made managing the undertaking especially difficult. Following an accident where a BEST bus ploughed through pedestrians on a crowded street in Kurla, killing eight and leaving 40 injured, the state transferred its general manager, Anil Diggikar in December last year. Harshdeep Kamble was to succeed Diggikar but he never took charge, and the state asked Ashwini Joshi to fill the post. In February 2025, SVR Srinivas was given additional charge of the BEST, before he retired on July 31.
When BEST employees threatened a protest at Azad Maidan on Wednesday, the BEST administration needed an officer at the top, and hence the UDD issued an order assigning additional charge to Ashwini Joshi on Tuesday. The GAD too issued an order appointing Asheesh Sharma, that very same day.
Commenting on the mix-up, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Adityaa Thackeray posted on social media, saying: “So the BEST is being killed by the state government on purpose, but what is worse is the coordination between CM and Gaddaarnath Mindhe (he meant Eknath Shinde) is already dead. CM’s GAD has issued orders to one name as administrator, while the Gaddaarnath’s UD department has issued orders to another name. Shouldn’t the DCM have first discussed this with CM? Shouldn’t the GAD be issuing these orders? Why should our State suffer in this ego war? Imagine, if this basic coordination is SO dead, these are the people who are supposed to be leading our State! The most corrupt and incompetent government that Maharashtra has seen.”