BMC polls: Woman BJP leader booked for ‘stealing’ AB form from party office

Mumbai, Jan 3 (PTI) Police have registered a case against a woman BJP leader for allegedly stealing an ‘AB’ form from her party office and using it to file her nomination for the January 15 BMC elections, an official said on Saturday.

The form was initially issued to Shilpa Datta Keluskar on Monday to file her nomination from the electoral ward no. 173 in the Sion area, but was taken back the same evening.

AB is a key document to file a candidate’s nomination.

The form was then submitted to the BJP office in Dadar and kept in a drawer by office secretary Dinesh Jagtap, said the official.

Subsequently, Pooja Ramdas Kamble from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena was given an AB form to contest from the same ward. The BJP and Shiv Sena have struck an alliance for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections.

However, Pooja Kamble’s husband Ramdas Kamble visited the BJP office and informed party officials that Keluskar had also filed her nomination, despite his wife being chosen as the official alliance candidate.

Jagtap then checked the drawer where the AB form returned by Keluskar had been kept and found it missing, the official said.

The BJP leader then approached the Sion police station with a complaint against Keluskar.

The official said Keluskar has been booked for theft under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is underway, he added. PTI ZA NR