His persona as a dreaded ‘home grown’ don with the long moustaches has inspired many books, series and movies in popular culture. He was once feared as the ‘don’ of Dagdi Chawl. For some, he was the Robin Hood who robbed the rich and filled the pockets of the poor while for others, he was nothing more than a murderer and gangster. But Arun Gawli spread a wave of terror from the corridors of Dagdi Chawl. Be it out of fear or favour but the people of Chinchpokli elected him to the state legislative assembly between 2004 and 2009 as a member of his own party, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena. He soon became the Daddy of Dagdi Chawl, probably because his five children called him that.
Gawli joined a gangster’s gambling den in the 1980s in Mumbai and enjoyed initial political patronage from Bal Thackeray who protected him as a ‘Marathi’ strongman. The underworld was riding high in that era and Gawli was the answer to Dawood Ibrahim’s men. But by the 1990s he started attacking even the Shiv Sainiks and allegedly murdered some of them. In that decade, he founded his political outfit, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena. In 2004, he contested the elections from Chinchpokli and won but was convicted in 2008.
A desire—or need—to be seen in the corridors of power saw his wife Asha contest the assembly elections and became an MLA. Asha, too, has been accused or extortion. Their daughter Geeta is a former corporator. Last month, when Milind Narvekar visited the Gawli residence, it sparked curiosity on whether Geeta would contest the assembly elections from Byculla on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket.
The more prominent politician in the family is Sachin Ahir, Gawli’s nephew who is best known for his grand dahi handi celebrations at Jamboree Maidan in Worli, his constituency. He was first elected to the state assembly in 1999 and was made minister for housing in 2020. Even while Gawli may have wanted to consolidate political power within the family, Ahir turned against the uncle and joined the undivided NCP and contested the Lok Sabha elections against Gawli.
Ahir is now an MLC from the Shiv Sena (UBT). Another politician in the clan is Gawli’s uncle Hukumchand Yadav who was a legislator from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
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