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Twin setbacks for Arun Gawli as both his daughters fail to win in BMC polls

Arun Gawli's daughters, Geeta and Yogita, failed to win the BMC elections, signalling a significant erosion of the family's political sway in Mumbai. Despite their father's past as a gangster-turned-MLA, voters rejected the Akhil Bharatiya Sena candidates. This defeat highlights a shift in Mumbai's political landscape, moving away from the influence once wielded by the Gawli family in local governance.

Geeta Gawli, daughter of Arun Gawli, poses before an election campaign of ABS party at Dagdi Chawl in Byculla, on February 9, 2017. (File Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Geeta Gawli, daughter of Arun Gawli, poses before an election campaign of ABS party at Dagdi Chawl in Byculla, on February 9, 2017. (File Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
| Updated on: Jan 16, 2026 | 04:17 PM
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New Delhi: Both daughters of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli failed to win in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

Geeta and Yogita Gawli were candidates of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, founded by her father. Geeta Gawli was defeated by Amreen Shehzan Abrahani of the Samajwadi Party in Ward 212 in Byculla, while Yogita Gawli lost to BJP candidate Rohidas Lokhande in Ward 207.

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The setbacks indicate a clear erosion of the Gawli family’s political influence in Mumbai.

Before the polls, the Gawli sisters had reportedly told NDTV that people don't look up to them as "don's daughters" but "daddy's daughters". "People look up to 'daddy' with hope and trust. He has resolved many of their issues," they had said. Arun Gawli's backers call him "daddy" in the Dagdi Chawl in Byculla.

How Arun Gawli entered politics

Arun Gawli was a notorious gangster who forayed into Mumbai’s underworld in the 1970s. Along with his brother Kishor, he was part of the Byculla Company, a criminal gang active across central Mumbai neighbourhoods like Byculla, Parel and Saat Rasta.

In 1988, Arun Gawli took reins of the gang. He was engaged in a prolonged power struggle with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s gang throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.

Arun Gawli got political patronage of Shiv Sena founder and patriarch Balasaheb Thackeray in the 1980s. He parted ways with the Shiv Sena in the mid-1990s and set up his own political party. Arun Gawli served as an MLA between 2004 and 2009 from the Chinchpokli constituency.

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In 2008, he was put behind bars for killing a Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. Last September, he was released on bail after serving in jail for 17 years.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Shiv Sena Shinde faction leader Sada Saravankar also suffered a big setback, after his son Samadhan Saravankar was defeated. Sada Saravankar is the president of Siddhivinayak Trust.

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