Navalkar, Sena’s moral cop, dies

A trusted lieutenant of Sena chief Bal Thackeray, his contemporaries included Manohar Joshi, Sudhir Joshi, Datta Nalawade, Dattaji Salvi and Wamanrao Mahadik. From being a corporator, he went on to become an MLA in 1972. Later, he was nominated by the Sena to the Legislative Council.

While he belonged to the conservative middle-class neighbourhood of Thakurdwar in Girgaum, Navalkar liked to explore the underbelly of Mumbai. He roamed the city’s labyrinthine lanes and bylanes, and wrote about prostitutes, homosexuals, pimps, alcoholics and criminals, often shocking the sensibilities of the Marathi middle-class.

He wrote for many publications, but his best known column was “Bhatkyachi Bramanti” in Navshakti daily on the trips of a nomadic character in Mumbai’s underbelly. The column ran for a whopping 49 years and got him into the Limca Book of Records.

Apart from exploring the underworld, Navalkar mocked at the tight security system in the Maharashtra legislature: on several occasions, he smuggled in a gun or explosive materials like gelatine sticks and timer devices.

Navalkar also took upon himself the task of moral policing, expressing concern about the impact of advertisements, films and other media on young minds. The moral policeman in him became authoritative when he became the culture minister during the Sena-BJP regime (1995-99). Among the issues he took up were M F Hussain’s paintings, films like Deepa Mehta’s Fire and rock shows. Last year, he forced the state government to conduct a probe twice, by re-opening the “wardrobe malfunction” case during a fashion show.

Navalkar had a special concern for senior citizens and was instrumental in creating the “Nana-Nani Park” in Girgaum.