MUMBAI, February 6: As the Lok Sabha elections draw near, the Dawood Ibrahim, Arun Gawli and Chhota Rajan gangs in Mumbai are all set to fight the electoral battle for their political masters.Apart from violence, they are also expected to resort to coercive methods like bogus voting and stealing of ballot boxes during the polls. However, Deputy commissioner of police (zone-II) Param Bir Singh has ruled out mafia involvement in the polls saying, ``Gangs aren't a factor in these elections. They're yet to recover from the shock they've received due to police action.'' Last year witnessed the killings of 73 gangsters in police encounters. Over 50 criminals were detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA), especially members of the Gawli gang.But this time round, gangsters have gone a step ahead. Besides supporting other parties, some of them have filed nominations themselves. Arun Gawli's top aide, Raju Philips, a history-sheeter and an accusedin 14 cases including five murders, has filed his nomination papers from South-Central Mumbai as a candidate of the Gawli-floated Akhil Bharatiya Sena.Apparently, Gawli had been earlier backing Shiv Sena's Mohan Rawle in this constituency, which was supposed to witness a triangular contest between Rawle, the Samajwadi Party's Sohail Lokhandwala and Janata Dal's Sharad Rao.Some see the filing of Philips' nomination papers as the outcome of souring relations between Rawle and Gawli, though there are those who believe that Philips' candidature is just a ploy to camouflage the Gawli gang's support to Rawle.``A frying pan (Rawle) is better than fire (Lokhandwala). Rawle's tolerable, but the SP's connections are well-known. We just can't imagine SP winning here,'' an old woman from Peon Chawl, a Gawli stronghold, said. At least one party fighting against the Sena in Central Mumbai is known to be backed by Chhota Shakeel. The fact that it has fielded a candidate from South-Central Mumbai is seen as anindicator of its readiness to face Gawli's challenge.The Muslim leadership may be opposed to the Congress, but Dawood's name is still associated with some of the top party leaders. Sources said Dawood certainly won't leave the Congress in the lurch. It merits mention that notorious Dawood aide Salim Talwar had been arrested for booth-capturing in the 1991 elections from a South Mumbai polling booth. While, in an interview to a Calcutta daily, Dawood's brother Noora had spoken about the family's relations with a state politician, Chhota Rajan had expressed regards for Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in a magazine interview.The Rajan gang's members in the city are said to be preparing themselves to work in such a way as to undermine the efforts of arch rival Chhota Shakeel in the North-West and North-East Mumbai. ``But in North-West, Rajan will be in a quandary as to who he should support because he is known to be close to candidates of at least two parties on the opposite sides of the political divide,'' aRajan aide claimed. Still, all of Rajan's aides may not obey him. A top aide and an accused in many murders, Kashi Pashi, has vowed whole-hearted support to SP candidate, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi in the North-West constituency.Though the police don't expect any violence, they fear bogus voting could take place. Joint commissioner of police (law and order) P S Pasricha said, ``We don't expect any trouble, but we aren't complacent either.'' Police have identified over 350 ``sensitive booths'' in the city, which include trouble spots prone to eruption of violence. Certain booths in South Mumbai, where booth-capturing has taken place in the past, and booths near Ramabai colony (Ghatkopar) have been identified as sensitive booths.
