Mayor Ritu Tawde Meets CM Devendra Fadnavis Over BMC Social Media Tender Row

Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai to demand a change in the civic public relations officer following an ongoing controversy over a Rs 25 lakh social media tender.

One of the primary demands raised by Tawde during the meeting was seeking a replacement for the civic Public Relations Officer (PRO). The demand came days after Tawde criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) public relations department chief over a Rs 25 lakh social media tender issued for engaging personnel for the mayor’s office.

The tender proposal had initially followed a letter written by Tawde in February, in which she sought the strengthening of the mayor’s social media outreach. However, the subsequent tender process led to friction between the mayor's office and the civic public relations department.

Following Tawde’s discussion with Chief Minister Fadnavis, the matter was taken up with BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide on Thursday morning. Sources indicated that rather than outright replacing the civic PRO, the administration decided that an assistant municipal commissioner will be handed charge of the public relations department.

Sources privy to the developments noted that the mayor met Fadnavis at around 8 pm on Thursday, during which several issues were deliberated.

The meeting with the Chief Minister also took place shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party held a meeting on August 24 with all of its corporators. That session was followed by discussions with party functionaries, including Mayor Tawde, Standing Committee Chairperson Prabhakar Shinde, Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar, and Education Committee Chairperson Rajashree Shirwadkar.