War of letters between Shinde camp and BJP: Report

Thane: A verbal spat has broken out between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp and the BJP over appointment of a public works department engineer in the city.

According to reports Shinde camp is fielding currently incombent engineer Vilas Kamble while BJP wants to place an engineer of their choice from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

The conflict cropped on August 10 when Kapil Patil, a Union minister and BJP member from Bhiwandi area requested deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis requesting replacing Kamble with Devendra Pawar. The leter was further sent to Additional chief secretary of PWD, stated a Hindustan Times report.

However, two MLAs from Shinde camp sought the request to let Kamble retain the post.

The conflict is believed to have stemmed from Minister of Public Works Ravindra Chavans letter who was disappointed with how things were progressing in urban development department overseen by the CM, the report read. He also had alleged that fund of Rs 472 crore were allocated for roads by Fadnavis during his term as CM hadn't been released yet. BJP MLA Kisan Kathore had also fielded for Kamble.

An official was quoted as saying that the post was lucrative since funds inflow from various departments inlcuding National Highway Authority of India. Plus Thane is important district since it's Shinde's bastion.