Sarpotdar provides teeth to SENA TIGER'S ROAR

A known face on the streets of Mumbai and in labour unrests, the 74-year-old is a former MLC from Bandra, Mumbai, and served as a personnel officer in a private company earlier. He is also a life member of the National Institute of Personnel Management.

Sarpotdar has been in the Shiv Sena for the past four decades and has often chipped in when his party needed muscle power. His influence stems from his proximity to Thackeray, starting with the fact that his residence at Bandra (East) is not very far from Matoshri (the Thackeray headquarters).

However, like other senior Sena leaders, Sarpotdar has chosen to take an ambivalent stance on the dynastic struggle between the Thackeray siblings — Uddhav and Raj. Sarpotdar’s son Atul is a close friend of Raj Thackeray. Atul joined the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and was made the general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Marathwada region.

Sarpotdar was elected to the Assembly twice, in 1990 and 1995. He resigned his seat in 1996 after Thackeray chose him to contest for the Lok Sabha from Mumbai North-West, Sunil Dutt’s constituency. The Sena leader won, but his victory was attributed to Dutt’s absence from the fray. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and was made the leader of the Sena parliamentary party.

Sarpotdar was also the founder member of the NDA’s apex coordination committee. After losing to Dutt in subsequent polls, he was chosen to contest the 2005 Lok Sabha bypolls against his daughter, Congress nominee Priya Dutt. As a legislator and parliamentarian, he was a member of several committees and was made the chairperson of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Earlier this year, the Sena decided against fielding Sarpotdar in the Legislative Council polls and instead nominated trade union leader Kiran Pawaskar, who went on to win the polls after cross-voting by Congress MLAs. While the Sena said the decision was influenced by the need to pave way for a younger generation, it was said to be prompted by Sarpotdar’s proximity to the MNS.

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