India, March 7 -- Prominent builder Ajay Ashar, a close associate of deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, was on Thursday removed from the position of vice chairman of Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), a government agency created as a think tank for transforming Maharashtra into a trillion-dollar economy by 2027.

The government has reconstituted the governing body of MITRA by appointing two new members - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Dilip Walse-Patil and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rana Jagjitsinha Patil - after dropping Ashar. Shinde's colleague Rajesh Kshirsagar continues his tenure on the body.

The think tank was founded in 2022 when Shinde was chief minister, and Ashar's appointment in November of that...