MUMBAI: The Sion police have registered an FIR against Shilpa Keluskar, wife of a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary, for allegedly using a stolen AB form to file her nomination as a BJP candidate from Ward No. 173 (Santacruz East) of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), despite the party having ceded the ward to its alliance partner, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde).
FIR filed against BJP functionary’s wife for allegedly using stolen AB form to file BMC nomination
The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by Dinesh Jagtap, office secretary at the BJP’s Mumbai office located in the Vasant Smruti building in Dadar East.
According to the complaint, ahead of the 2026 BMC elections, Keluskar, resident of Pratiksha Nagar, was initially issued an AB form to contest as the BJP’s candidate from Ward 173. The form, bearing the signature of the Mumbai BJP president, was handed over to her at around 10am on December 29.
Subsequently, the BJP decided to contest the civic polls in alliance with Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and Ward 173 was allotted to the Sena. The Shiv Sena then nominated Pooja Kamble, wife of former corporator Ramdas Kamble, as its candidate from the ward.
Following the change, Keluskar’s candidature was cancelled and she was asked to return the AB form. Jagtap stated that Keluskar visited the BJP office at around 5 pm on December 30 and returned the form, which he placed in a drawer in the central cabin for safekeeping.
However, on December 31 at around 2 pm, Ramdas Kamble reportedly informed Jagtap that Keluskar had filed her nomination with the election officer in Sion as a BJP candidate, submitting an AB form signed by the Mumbai BJP president. When Jagtap checked the drawer where the form was kept, it was missing.
Suspecting that the AB form, a crucial party document, had been stolen from the BJP office and misused, Jagtap consulted senior party leaders and approached the police.
Based on the complaint, the Sion police booked Keluskar for theft under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “We have served a notice of appearance to the accused and are scanning CCTV footage from the BJP office to ascertain how the AB form was taken,” a police officer from the Sion police station said.
The BJP’s reaction to the FIR was awaited at the time of going to press.
Forms A and B are mandatory authorisation letters issued by a political party to officially nominate and endorse its candidate; without them, a candidate’s nomination is invalid.