ABS rallies for Govt’s dismissal

And surprisingly all this was done in the absence of the kingpin, Arun Gawli, who was advised by the police not to attend the rally for security reasons. Thousands of his followers shouting slogans and waving banners filled in the streets of south Mumbai crying hoarse against the Sena-BJP combine and seeking its dismissal.

They were as vicious as Shiv Sena leaders were before coming to power in the state while lashing the government for their act of omissions and commissions in a mammoth gathering which was estimated at around 40,000. In an attempt to white wash the criminal past, Mumbai pradesh ABS chief Bharat Mhatre gave a threat to the government and the media not to address Arun Gawli as a don or notorious gangster in future. "The party will take serious view if anybody does so," warned Mhatre.

However, their own lingo remained the same. ABS spokesperson Ashok Gawde told the gathering that Gawli had accepted a `supari’ not to kill anybody but to topple the government.

Arun Gawli’s wife Asha, affectionately called `Mummy’ stole the limelight in a pink coloured embroidered saree and heavy gold ornaments. She was greeted to the thunderous applause from the gathering.

The mammoth crowd was disappointed as `Daddy’ Arun Gawli, failed to turn up at the morcha. The Mumbai police had warned Gawli against participating in the morcha as there was threat to his life.

Despite the warning, ABS leaders repeatedly kept assuring activists that Gawli would address the gathering in the evening.

The political facade was complete. A delegation led by Asha Gawli met the state governor, who gave them hearing for about half an hour. According to Jitendra Dabholkar, the governor assured the delegation that the memorandum would be forwarded to the President.

Their visit to the Raj Bhavan and meeting with governor was promptly reported to the gathering which was waiting there till then. The end was patriotic. The national anthem was sung before the crowd took over the roads and locals on the way home.

For police it was a tough day policing a morcha of a different kind. Several video camera were rolling in expectation of visually capturing some of the criminals who were expected to attend the rally. However, at the end of the day no criminal was physically nabbed, though underworld sources said there were some Gawli men as well as some from his rival gangs. Zonal DCP Ashok Dhamija said some rival gangsters could have masqueraded as party activists to see the on going things.“ But it would have been suicidal to open fire in such massive crowd,” Dhamija pointed out.

On the rampage: Commuters on the suburban routes and BEST services had a harrowing time from morning to evening today, as hordes of Akhil Bharatiya Sena activists harassed them to reach their destination.

Occupied seats were forcibly snatched away, passengers were abused, manhandled and some were even denied entry into the trains running on Central and Western routes. Hapless passengers were left with little option but to come to terms with the situation by keeping their calm.

Unruly scenes prevailed at important stations like Borivli, Andheri, Dadar, Thane and Ghatkopar when passengers were not allowed to disembark as the doors were concealed by a human wall created by the activists.

The Akhil Bharatiya Sena activists were on their way to the Azad Maidan from where they were to march to Raj Bhavan.Raising anti-Shiv Sena and anti-government slogans, the supporters of the underworld-don-turned-political-leader Arun Gawli made commuting sheer hell for passengers. While the trains originating from Churchgate, CST, Virar and Kalyan were done up with Akhil Bharatiya Sena banners, the activists’ enthusiastic slogan-shouting in praise of their leader Arun Gawli even subdued the usual intolerable commotion of bhajan singers.