Mumbai: One time underworld don, Arun Gawli, today (Feb 16, 2004) said he will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Gawli, who floated his own political outfit "Akhil Bharatiya Sena" (ABS) in 1997 after his influence in the underworld began to wane following a crackdown by police and rival gangs, said he will contest from the south-central Lok Sabha constituency.

The constituency, which mostly comprises of old Mumbai parts representing the mill culture and typical middle class Maharashtrians, has been Gawli's bastion.

Gawli plans to take on the sitting Shiv Sena MP, Mohan Rawle, and claims that his public work in the past few years will speak for him at the coming polls.

"My work for the public, may it be civic works or the social issues, is my asset," Gawli told reporters from his highly fortified residence in the Dagdi chawl in Byculla today.

Gawli said he has toiled to cultivate his 'constituency', and has 'sympathisers' in every locality.