Mr Mukhopadhyay who is involved in the "letter war" against the the loss making Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) chairman Vinay Bansal is believed to have made a strong plea to the Chief Minister and chief secretary that he should be relieved immediately before being axed.

Mantralaya sources told The Financial Express on Saturday that senior ministers belonging to the ruling Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Peasants and Workers Party, and Janata Dal (s) have expressed severe displeasure on the style of functioning of Mr Mukhopadhyay who had been on a deputation to the World Bank for six years. These ministers were unhappy over Mr Mukhopadhyay's indifference on the issue of revival and restructuring of the loss-making MSEB.

"Mr Mukhopadhyay who belongs to the 1967 IAS batch will have to go as he has been taking the side of Enron during the ongoing drama," a senior Congress minister said. He added that a decision to shunt out Mr Mukhopadhyay who had remained as the energy secretary at the time of Enron's entry here, would be taken very shortly.

Mr Mukhopadhyay's utterances during a close door meeting held recently in the presence of former state Chief Minister Sharad Pawar had come under severe attack when he went on defending the need for the Dabhol phase-II, while totally rejecting the need for its cancellation.

On Thursday's special cabinet meeting chaired by Mr Deshmukh, a large number of ministers criticised Mr Mukhopadhyay for sending the file pertaining to providing budgetary support of Rs 1,900 crore to MSEB assured on the floor of state legislature to the state finance department.

The compensation of Rs 1,900 crore, comprising Rs 1100 crore of immediate liquidity loss and Rs 800 crore towards hosts of the concessions announced for powerloom and agricultural consumers was necessary as per the tariff order of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).

"Instead of clearing the necessary file, Mr Mukhopadhyay sent it to the finance department which is unwarranted," a NCP minister said, and added that Mr Mukhopadhyay should not have wasted so much of time to honour the assurance given on the floor of the state legislature.

Furthermore, Mr Mukhopadhyay's reluctance to reply to various issues raised by the MSEB on the default in the payment to DPC, MSEB's inability to bear additional burden, escrow cover to Reliance and Ispat projects, had also come under severe attack. Mr Mukhopadhyay had sought the intervention of the Chief Minister, chief secertary and the energy minister on various issues raised by the MSEB, by terming it as a "sensitive" one.

Moreover, a large number of ministers were annoyed over Mr Mukhopadhyay's reported opposition to the sops, especially for the "politically sensitive" agricultural consumers under the garb of the corporatisation of MSEB. They were also opposed to Mr Mukhopadhyay's proposal for the privatisation of the state distribution system .