Nagpur, September 2: Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday alleged the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government was more interested in transferring officials than curbing the COVID-19 outbreak. In a dig, the former chief minister said there was a lack of coordination in the government on the issue of transfers.

He suggested that transfer of officials can be put on hold this year in view of the viral outbreak. "Presently, the problem with this government is that the entire government is occupied with transfers only. Conducting transfers has become the only business of this government now," the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly told reporters at the airport here. Devendra Fadnavis Urges Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to Increase COVID-19 Testing in Mumbai, Warns of ‘Bigger Spread’ in the Metropolis.

He is on a two-day tour of flood-affected regions in the Vidarbha region of east Maharashtra. "Transfers are also necessary, but it won't make any huge difference if transfers are withheld for a year. Key transfers are fine. I feel transfers can wait in this COVID-19 year," he said, adding that the government incurs an expenditure of Rs 500 crore a year on effecting transfers.

Besides the Sena, the NCP and the Congress are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation. Recently, a controversy had erupted over transfer of some senior police officers in Mumbai. Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 8,08,306 as on September 1 with 24,903 fatalities, as per the state government.