India, March 16 -- There are no signs of the ongoing bitter tussle between deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and forest minister Ganesh Naik ending anytime soon. While it looked like the duo would bury the hatchet after the municipal elections, going by their words and deeds, it looks like the quarrel between the Shiv Sena chief and the BJP's Navi Mumbai strongman will continue. Last Thursday, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Anil Parab made several allegations against the Shinde-led urban development department (UDD) during a debate in the legislative council. Alleging corruption in the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and the Navi Mumbai and Ulhasnagar municipal corporations, which come under the jurisdiction of the UDD, Parab said that a private company that was awarded work for the Navi Mumbai airport did not pay royalty to the government on excavation of soil and other material, leading to a loss of Rs.496.90 crore to the state exchequer. He also alleged that around 100 illegal stone quarries were running in Navi Mumbai and nearby areas, because of which the government had lost revenue of hundreds of crores of rupees. Shinde was not in the council when Parab trained his guns on the UDD but Naik was. A Sena legislator said that Naik even commented that what was being heard in the upper house was only the tip of the iceberg-a remark that was repeated by Parab later while demanding that the government set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations. Shinde's party colleagues suspected that Parab was being fed "misinformation" from within the ruling alliance. Sena insiders said the deputy CM was irked with Naik and chose not to reply, instead deputing party colleague and industries minister Uday Samant to respond to the allegations the next day. In fact, in the ongoing budget session, Shinde is rarely seen in the legislature. He has given the responsibility of replying to questions and debates on his behalf to two of his ministers, Samant and Shambhuraj Desai. Senior BJP legislator Sudhir Mungantiwar wanted to table a private bill (in other words a bill that is not officially tabled by the government) seeking a deduction of 20% in the salary of government employees who do not look after their parents, and depositing the amount directly in the parents' bank accounts. The bill, however, did not come up in the proceedings of the state assembly on Thursday. When Mungantiwar objected, speaker Rahul Narwekar said it was not included in the day's agenda, as he had not submitted the English draft for the perusal of the governor. An irked Mungantiwar shot back that the governor should learn Marathi instead of insisting on an English draft. Narwekar attempted to pacify the senior legislator, pointing out that his bill had a demand for a financial provision and hence an approval by the governor was necessary to take it up for discussion. It is not known if Mungantiwar has submitted the English draft yet. An article in the Marathi newspaper Loksatta written by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has become a talking point, with the MLA getting criticised by Mahayuti supporters. Aaditya wrote about the slanging match between the Congress and the BJP following Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal's remarks equating Tipu Sultan (the ruler of Mysore between 1782 and 1799) with Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Sapkal's remarks led to protests by the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena who said he had insulted the Maratha king by equating him with a ruler who was notorious for killing Hindus. Sapkal later apologised. Commenting on the episode, Aaditya criticised both the national parties and asked how long politicians would keep people busy with what had happened in the past instead of looking forward. He particularly targeted the BJP, remarking that it wanted Indians to keep going back into history instead of focussing on the future. With senior IAS officer and Mumbai municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani set to retire at the end of March, Mantralaya is abuzz with speculation about a fresh round of transfers in some key positions. While the BMC will get a new commissioner, there could be fresh faces in top positions in infrastructure and planning bodies such as CIDCO, MMRDA and perhaps MHADA. Needless to say, fervent lobbying is on even as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' principal secretary Shrikar Pardeshi is busy shortlisting officers for the key positions that are opening up....