Daijiworld Media Network - Pune
Pune, Jan 1: Pune’s long-delayed Municipal Corporation elections, taking place after nearly eight years, have triggered turbulence not only between rival political parties but also within their own ranks. An extraordinary incident at the Sahakarnagar Regional Office has come to symbolise the disorder, where a Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) aspirant allegedly swallowed a party nomination form in an attempt to edge out an internal rival.
The deadline for submitting nomination papers closed on December 30, and the final hours saw frenetic activity across party offices. The ruling Mahayuti alliance—comprising the BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde)—struggled to finalise seat allocations until the very end. In a bid to avoid missing the cutoff, Shiv Sena leaders issued official ‘AB’ forms to more than one hopeful in several wards, inadvertently creating situations where multiple candidates laid claim to the same seat.
One such confrontation erupted in Ward No. 36 (Sahakarnagar–Padmavati). Initially, Machhindra Dhawale was named as the Shiv Sena candidate and given the party’s ‘AB’ form. Subsequently, another form was issued to Uddhav Kamble, declaring him the official nominee instead. When Dhawale declined to withdraw, the dispute escalated dramatically during the scrutiny process. Kamble is accused of forcibly seizing Dhawale’s ‘AB’ form and swallowing it, allegedly to invalidate his nomination.
Assistant Returning Officer Manisha Bhutkar has lodged a complaint accusing Kamble of obstructing official duties. Police have registered a case, and sources indicate that Kamble has been taken into custody. Authorities are awaiting further developments in the matter.
The turmoil has not been confined to the Shiv Sena alone. Both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are grappling with their own internal disputes despite a pre-election understanding in Pune. Although NCP (Ajit Pawar) and NCP (Sharad Pawar) reportedly agreed to a 125:40 seat-sharing arrangement, the distribution of ‘AB’ forms suggests otherwise. The Ajit Pawar faction is said to have issued over 165 forms, while the Sharad Pawar faction distributed close to 90.
In an effort to curb rebellion among aspirants, both NCP factions opted to hand out ‘AB’ forms directly from regional offices on the final day. Instead of restoring order, the move intensified confusion, with multiple candidates receiving forms for the same ward and, in some cases, a single faction backing two candidates for one seat.
As a result of this widespread “AB form confusion,” neither NCP faction was able to publish an official candidate list by Wednesday. While party leaders insist they adhered to the agreed seat-sharing formula, the volume of nominations filed tells a different story—one of overcrowded ballots, internal discord, and an alliance struggling to maintain administrative control ahead of a crucial civic contest.