A shocking incident emerged during the Pune Municipal Corporation election nomination process earlier this week during the nomination race for the upcoming Pune municipal elections where a senior member of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Kamble allegedly swallowed another party candidate’s “AB form” (nomination form) in a bid to seize his opportunity to contest elections from Shiv Sena.
The case drew widespread attention from internet trolls, political personalities and netizens across Maharashtra amid approaching municipal elections in Pune. The dramatic episode during the nomination process then finally ended on Wednesday after Uddhav Kamble withdrew his candidature following directions from party leadership.
Eknath Shinde asks Kamble to withdraw his candidacy
Following the controversy, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to Uddhav Kamble over the phone. Hours later Kamble cleared the air while interacting with reporters.
“Eknath Shinde has assured me that I will be considered in the future. He has assured me,” Kamble told local media.
“It is an order from the party leaders. Eknath Shinde is our senior leader. None of us go beyond his word. His order is final for us. Due to this, I have withdrawn my application today,” he added later.
What exactly led to this incident?
According to reports, the Shiv Sena had initially issued its AB form to another aspirant namely Machhindra Dhawale from the ward (36) before later backing Kamble. After the party issued an AB form to Kamble, he became the official nominee for the party.
However, when both nominations accidentally surfaced during review of the formal paperwork for Pune elections, it led to a heated confrontation between Kamble, Dhawal and ECI officials. There have been conflicting versions of what exactly happened. While some reports claimed Kamble swallowed the form in anger, he has denied this, stating that the document was torn during an emotional moment. Authorities are examining the incident.