Mumbai, Jan 16: The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) 2026 elections have delivered a clear political message for gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli: “ab bhai ka kuchh nahi chalata.” In a double setback for the former don, both his daughters, Geeta Gawli and Yogita Gawli-Waghmare, were defeated in the civic polls.
The two sisters contested the elections on the ticket of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, the political party founded by their father, Arun Gawli. However, neither managed to secure a win, signalling a sharp decline in Gawli’s once-formidable influence in Mumbai’s civic politics.
Defeats in key wards
Yogita Gawli-Waghmare lost her maiden electoral contest in Ward 207, where she was defeated by BJP candidate Rohidas Lokhande. In Ward 212 (Byculla), Geeta Gawli suffered defeat at the hands of Samajwadi Party candidate Amreen Shehzan Abrahani.
In Ward 207, as many as 13 candidates were in the fray, with the main contest between the BJP, MNS and Akhil Bharatiya Sena. Lokhande secured victory with 8,042 votes, while Yogita Gawli polled 6,377 votes and finished third. In Ward 212, six candidates contested the election. Abrahani won with 8,848 votes, while Geeta Gawli received 6,823 votes and finished second.
Campaign pitch falls flat
During the campaign, both sisters repeatedly asserted that voters did not see them as “don’s daughters” but as “Daddy’s daughters”, a reference to Arun Gawli’s long-standing local identity as “Daddy” in Dagdi Chawl, Byculla, where the family resides. However, the election results indicate that this emotional appeal failed to resonate with voters.
From underworld to politics
Once among Mumbai’s most notorious underworld figures, Arun Gawli rose to prominence in the 1970s after joining the Byculla Company along with his brother Kishor, also known as “Pappa.” After gangster Rama Naik was killed in a police encounter in 1988, Gawli took control of the gang and operated from Dagdi Chawl.
At its peak, the gang dominated criminal activities across central Mumbai and was engaged in a prolonged rivalry with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company during the late 1980s and 1990s.
Gawli entered politics in the 1980s with indirect patronage after the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray criticised police action against Hindu gangsters. However, relations soured in the mid-1990s, following which Gawli formed the Akhil Bharatiya Sena. In 2004, he was elected as an MLA from the Chinchpokli constituency, largely due to his strong local roots.
Declining influence
In 2008, Gawli was jailed for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar and spent 17 years in prison before being released on bail last September. The Gawli family has since struggled to retain its political relevance.
His aunt, Vandana Gawli, had won Ward 207 in the 2012 civic elections but lost in 2017. Earlier this year, she joined the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction, adding another twist to the family’s political journey.
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The defeat of both daughters in the 2026 BMC elections appears to have delivered a decisive message to Arun Gawli: “ab bhai ka kuchh nahi chalata.”
Moreover, Arun Gawli’s aunt, Vandana Gawli, also lost the election to Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Aboli Khade in Ward 198 (Worli). Vandana Gawli contested the polls on the Shinde Shiv Sena ticket but failed to secure a victory.
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