During the scrutiny of nomination forms for Pune Municipal Corporation elections, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Kamble tore and allegedly swallowed a rival's official candidature form. Police have booked him for obstructing public servants and mischief, while the party acknowledged a mistake and named Kamble as its official nominee.
On December 31, 2025, during the scrutiny of nomination forms at the Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar ward office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for the January 15, 2026 civic elections, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Kamble discovered that his party had issued an AB form—denoting official candidature—for Ward 34 (Padmavati area) to another person, Macchindra Dhawale. Kamble snatched the form from an election official, tore it up, and according to police, attempted to swallow it before locking himself in a washroom. The form was not recovered and is believed to have been destroyed.
Senior Inspector Rahul Khilare of Bharti Vidyapeeth police station said, “Kamble snatched the nomination form of the other candidate from the staffer of the returning officer. He tore it and ran towards the washroom while starting to swallow it. He then locked the door of the washroom. The form was not recovered and we believe it was destroyed. We have booked Kamble and he has been served a notice. Further investigation is on.”
Election official Supriya Karmarkar explained that the incident occurred after the scrutiny process. “After the process was completed, candidates were requesting that they be shown the forms of rival candidates. At this time, Uddhav Kamble also made a similar request from a distance. When our employee was showing him the application of another candidate, Kamble tried to tear it up and ran away. We have lodged a complaint with the police.”
Kamble, who heads the Sena in Pune's Parvati Assembly constituency, admitted to tearing the form but denied swallowing it. Initial police probe indicates the party first gave the form to Dhawale and then to Kamble. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Kamble said, “I asked the election officials to show the AB form submitted by the other candidate... I then lost my cool and tore up the AB form … I will not lie, I am a hardcore Sainik. I accept that I tore the form because I became emotional after learning that someone else had submitted it … I am confident that my party will not do injustice with me.” He added, “Who is Dhawale? He is not an office-bearer of the party. He has done nothing for the party, whereas I have been working relentlessly for it.”
The Shiv Sena's Pune leadership acknowledged the error in issuing AB forms to both. Pune district president Nilesh Mazire stated, “Kamble told me everything. I think two AB forms went to the two people by mistake. However, the official candidate is Uddhav Kamble... The party leadership has issued a letter to the election office declaring that Uddhav Kamble is the official candidate. We accept that a mistake happened.” Pune city president Nana Bhangire confirmed Kamble as the official candidate, saying the forms were issued “inadvertently.”
Dhawale said, “I got a call from the ward office, which told me that Uddhav Kamble had torn up my form. The election officials asked me to submit a Xerox copy of my AB form. They told me that my form was received first. I was present during the scrutiny process and at the time, nothing had happened … I submitted my AB form between 2 and 2.30 pm on Tuesday.”
The incident highlights internal party tensions ahead of the PMC polls, with no explanation provided for how two AB forms from the same party were accepted during initial scrutiny.
