Thaindian News

Mumbai, March 27 (IANS) Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli Friday broke away from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after he was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.
Gawli’s Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS) merged with the BSP exactly a month ago and he was reportedly promised to be fielded for the Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai South constituency.

BSP state chief Vilas Garud told IANS that Gawli’s candidature was not cleared by the party high command though it was not averse to an alliance with the ABS.

On its part, the ABS will now field Gawli from Mumbai South, his daughter Geeta Gawli said here.

“Apart from Mumbai South, the ABS will also field another leader, Nanaji Shirsat, from Pune,” Geeta said.

Responding to the move to break the one-month-old alliance between the ABS and the BSP, Geeta said that the BSP unilaterally announced a candidate from Mumbai South though Gawli was promised a ticket from there.

“We had received an offer of merger from the BSP and they also wanted Gawli to contest from Mumbai South-Central constituency. However, we wanted to contest from Mumbai South since we have done lot of developmental works there and Mumbai South-Central is new territory,” Geeta explained.

Gawli, a sitting legislator who won by over 90,000 votes from Chinchpokli assembly seat, is at present in jail under the stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Besides Gawli, the ABS has two elected corporators in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, one is Geeta and her aunt Vandana Gawli, both from south Mumbai.

Meanwhile, BSP’s Garud said that the Nationalist Congress Party’s sitting MP from Ahmednagar, Tukaram Gadakh, has approached his party for a ticket in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“We have forwarded his proposal to Mayawati and the party high command will take the final decision in the matter shortly,” he said.