Not only the posts of two deputy MCs who have been recalled in the State Government owing to Model Code of Conduct, five posts of assistant commissioners are lying vacant for a long time.

Amid all this, it is learnt from sources that a section of elected wing members in the ruling BJP have begun lobbying for the return of R J Makadia, GAS, who was deputy commissioner in the AMC until recently when he was recalled following directive from the Election Commission. Municipal commissioner I P Gautam would not confirm or deny this.

Gautam said that at present he had eight deputies but the AMC required at least two more of them to run the administration more smoothly.

As many as four deputy commissioners, T G Jhalavadia, U C Padia, Z A Sacha and Dilip Mahajan are yet to be confirmed in their posts, some of them since year 2000. One deputy, B R Sheth, died last year while he was still waiting for his confirmation.

“Five posts of assistant commissioners have been approved in the State government but the appointments cannot be made until the government decides on the AMC plea of retaining the basic qualification of the candidate having a first class degree,” he said.

The government has revised the basic qualification from first class graduate to second class graduate which was no acceptable to the AMC and the government is still to take a decision on this.