Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has landed himself in a controversy with his plan to appoint a chief executive officer (CEO) for Mumbai. Shiv Sena on Friday decried the move, alleging that this was the first step to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

Why does Sena oppose the move?Sena MP Rahul Shewale said the larger conspiracy behind appointing a CEO for Mumbai was to separate Mumbai from Maharashrta. "It is BJP's hidden agenda to either separate Mumbai from Maharashtra or make it a union territory, bringing it under central government authority. We will oppose this move tooth and nail," said Shewale.

What's Joshi wary of?Senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi asked why the chief minister was in a hurry to appoint a CEO for Mumbai. "By doing this, they will cut the power of the elected representatives and delegate it to the CEO, who will then become more powerful than the elected representatives. BJP should call an all party meeting where this should be discussed threadbare. We would like to check if there is any agenda behind it? This is not the right time to take up such issues," said Joshi.

How can a CEO help Mumbai?Vinod Tawade, minister for primary, higher and technical education, medical education and culture, however said appointing a CEO would help Mumbaikars in resolving the issues they had been facing in the last several years."In Mumbai, there are multiple government bodies, and due to this, the progress of none of the projects is satisfactory. If projects are handled by a single person, that will facilitate their quick progress and we will able to complete them on schedule," said Tawade.He also said Sena would not gain anything by raking up the issue and creating a controversy. "Sena should be more worried about people's problems than creating controversies. People have given us the mandate, so we have to work for them. Opposing the appointment of CEO means opposing development of Mumbai city," said Tawade.

From where will CEO function?According to sources in BJP, the CEO will function from Mantralaya, the state government headquarters. He will ensure that approvals from all connected departments are in place, and undertake follow-up diligently. And he'll be held responsible for any delay.Presently, there are 16 different government agencies (state and centre) working in Mumbai and its extended suburbs. And, coordination among them is difficult. The CEO will be expected to co-ordinate the work of all these departments and agencies and address issues to put Mumbai's development on fast track.