Geeta Gawli may contest assembly polls on Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket

Geeta Gawli may run for Byculla assembly elections on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket, seeking support to leverage her past candidacies and local base.

Mumbai: Former Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS) corporator, Geeta Gawli, may contest the coming assembly elections from the Byculla constituency on the Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket. According to sources, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s personal secretary Milind Narvekar met Geeta and her mother Asha at their residence two days ago. Geet is the daughter of former underworld don Arun Gawli.

Geeta Gawli may contest assembly polls on Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket

“Geeta sought Shiv Sena (UBT) support, but we want her to join our party,” said a senior Sena (UBT) leader. “Being a former corporator she has a significant support base in the area. In the 2014 elections, when we had supported her, she lost by a margin of 4,419 votes. If she contests as a MVA candidate, she has better chances of winning.”

Geeta had contested the assembly election from Byculla in 2014 and 2019 but lost both times. In 2014, she was supported by Shiv Sena but lost to AIMIM’s Waris Pathan by 4,419 votes. In 2019, though she was in the fray, Shiv Sena fielded Yamini Jadhav who defeated Pathan to win the election. Gawli could get only 10,493 votes in this election. Jadhav joined the Shinde faction. Jadhav’s husband and former civic standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav is likely to contest the assembly election on her behalf. As such, Shiv Sena (UBT) is looking for a candidate.

Arun Gawli had formed the political outfit Akhil Bhartiya Sena (ABS) in Nagpur prison after he was convicted in the 2008 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar and sentenced to imprisonment. Gawli himself was elected to the state assembly from Chinchpokli constituency in 2004 assembly elections. The constituency was later restructured in the delimitation process and Byculla was created.