As reported in by India Today, Seema Kamdar, on October 8, 2009
It’s so full of criminals, the list of candidates for Maharashtra’s Assembly polls almost looks like a dossier on prison inmates.
Two of them ‘boast’ of underworld connections while many others have been booked for murder, attempt to murder, dangerous assault, wrongful confinement, robbery, and burglary. Some of the would-be legislators have been accused of even more horrifying crimes such as dealing with slaves and using minors for prostitution.
These revelations have been made by the National Election Watch (NEW), a cluster of NGOs. NEW has compiled the candidates’ profiles, based on the affidavits filed by the candidates themselves. The report says 127 of the 470 candidates screened in Mumbai and Thane have criminal backgrounds.
Sadashiv Lokhande, a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate from Kurla, has been booked under Section 371. This deals with ‘habitual dealing in slave’ and is punishable with a jail term of 10 years or even a life sentence.
Some candidates have even been accused of trading in minors for purposes of prostitution.
In Jogeshwari East, Congress candidate Bhai Jagtap, who has declared assets worth Rs 12 crore, has five cases against him. These include wrongful confinement and buying a minor for prostitution.
Former BJP corporator Gopal Shetty, a candidate from Borivli, faces charges of ‘habitual dealing in slave’ and ‘buying minor for prostitution purposes’. The Shiv Sena candidate from Dahisar, Vinod Ghosalkar, has also been accused of slave-dealing.
Broadly speaking, both these offences relate to human trafficking, says crime lawyer Tejas Bhatt. “A person booked under Section 371 is charged with not giving the person (deemed as slave) his/ her minimum wages or other benefits under the labour laws,” he explains.
Under Section 373, anyone who keeps a minor can be presumed to be doing so for the purpose of prostitution.
Sada Sarvankar, till recently a Shiv Sena leader who will represent the Congress in Mahim, has 25 cases against him, including attempt to murder and use of dangerous weapons.
Ramchandra Kadam, an MNS candidate from Ghatkopar West, faces charges of cheating and “inducing delivery of property by dishonest means”. Bhavesh Bhinde, an Independent candidate from Mulund, has 25 cases including “taking gift to recover stolen property”. Senior Sena leader Subhash Desai, who is seeking a re-election from Goregaon, has 10 cases against him. Most of them are political such as rioting and defamation.
Pitted against him is a wellknown trade unionist, Sharad Rao, with five cases against him. Rao is fighting on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket.
Deepak Nikhalje, underworld don Chhota Rajan’s brother, is fighting from Chembur, apparently against his brother’s wish.
Nikhalje is being fielded by the Republican Party of India (Athavle). He has assets worth about Rs 4 crore and two police cases against him.
Arun Gawli, who has formed the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, is seeking re-election from Byculla.
He faces 13 cases, including murder, extortion and theft.
Apart from dealing in slaves and buying minors, MNS’s Lokhande has also allegedly abetted “the desertion of soldier, sailor, or airman”. His party colleague Pravin Darekar, who is standing from Magathane, and Ashish Shelar, the BJP’s Bandra West candidate, have also been accused of similar offences.
Samajwadi Party’s Abu Asim Azmi, who was acquitted in the serial bomb blast case and is contesting from Mankhurd- Shivaji Nagar, has nine criminal cases against him including extortion, forgery and promoting enmity between groups.
But not all constituencies have crime-tarred candidates.
Some like Mumbadevi and the reserved constituency of Dharavi have a clean slate.
