The reason ascribed to the current unrest in the ZP corridors is disharmony between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, coupled with the political instability in the State, senior ZP men say.

Heads of twelve ZP departments (HoDs) called on Pune Divisional Commissioner Rajeev Agraval this afternoon to ``apprise him'' of the ``humiliations'' they were inflicted on by the office bearers. ``The Commissioner gave us a patient hearing,'' a senior HoD told The Indian Express.

The cold war now gripping the ZP apparently surfaced during Diwali. The HoD said that none of the members of the ZP were willing to have contact with any ZP officer, especially with the President.

ZP president Jalindar Kamathe seems to have drawn resentment for his ``inimitable arrogance''.

The president allegedly declined to accept festival greetings from the ZP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and asked him not to enter his office.

Transfers and recruitment of some staff members was said to be the root cause of the problem, claimed ZP officials, and said that elected representatives had no say in the matter. Under the saffron rule, transfers had become the sole prerogative of the administration. The step was apparently resorted to by the Sena-BJP alliance in a bid to check the Congress, which was then ruling almost all the zilla parishads in the State.

Since the change in guard in Mumbai, the zilla parishad office bearers here are pressing for ``a dialogue with them'' before the transfers are made. Elected members were trying to get things done and wanted quick results, an officer remarked.