Double upset for ex-gangster Arun Gawli as both daughters face loss in BMC polls

Mumbai, Jan 16 (PTI) In a major setback to gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, both his daughters lost the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections from their wards in south Mumbai on Friday.

Gawli's sister-in-law, Vandana Pradeep Gawli, who contested on a Shiv Sena ticket from ward 198, also lost to Aboli Gopal Khadye from the rival Sena (UBT).

According to authorities, the former gangster's daughters Geeta, who was seeking a fourth term from ward 212 in the Byculla-Agipada belt, and Yogita, who was making her poll debut from ward 207 in the Byculla-Chinchpokli area of central Mumbai, lost.

Geeta lost to Samajwadi Party candidate Amrin Shezad Abrahani, while Yogita was defeated by the BJP's Rohidas Lokhande.

Geeta was first elected as a corporator from Byculla East in 2007 and established herself as a prominent local face. She had also contested the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2012 and 2017, but lost on both occasions.

For the first time, Gawli, a former MLA, popularly known as 'Daddy of Dagdi Chawl', also canvassed for his daughters and took out roadshows.

The defeats mark a setback for the Gawli family's influence in the Byculla region, where it has traditionally held sway for nearly two decades.

After spending over 17 years behind bars, the 76-year-old former underworld don walked out of the Nagpur Central Prison recently. The Supreme Court last month granted bail to Gawli, who was serving life imprisonment for the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. PTI KK DC ARU