Arun Gawli and some links

Here is something I wrote about Gawli a while ago for a paper on Ganeshotsav mandals:

The meteoric rise of Arun Gawli within the textile mills is also interesting to the conversation on Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav. He belongs to the generation of petty criminals that were born of the textile mill strikes in the 1970. The arc of his career follows through from a small time charge-sheeter to an alignment with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, to creating his own gang – the Dagdi Chawl – syndicate where he is known a Daddy. The methods by which he worked resembled that of the grassroots work of the Shiv Sena where he offered to help solve problems of all the people who pledged their allegiance to him. From the fixing of drain pipes, water supply, the funding of a gymkhana and resolving domestic violence he created a mass base that was non communal, rather geographic in its territory and created a large political base that challenged the hold of the Shiv Sena in his locality. This arc was completed with his entry into politics when in 1997 with the launch of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena and with huge support – support that till date one will see for him at Byculla, where Dagdi Chawl is. An article in the Indian Express in 1997 talks about the politics of sponsorship and territorial control that expose themselves through the visibility offered by Ganpati Mandals. That the Shiv Sena used the organisational network of the Ganpati mandals to deploy it shakhas into the city and Gawlis use of the mandals to demonstate popularity highlights how in the 90s the mandals became tools through which political affiliations carved their boundaries onto the city. Conversely the refusal of Mandals to subscribe to anything outside a religious and logistical structure has allowed them to exist within and adapt to the politically changing city very adeptly.

HOWEVER, it makes no sense to vbote for him unless you benefit from his network. That is what grassroots means right?

The change in the size of the constituency is making everything confusing.

Other candidates are: Incumbent Congress MP Milind Deora, Sena MP Mohan Rawale, independent banker Meera Sanyal, Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS), Mohammad Ali (BSP),