Gawli's political designs suffered a major blow
when his nephew and party legislator, Sachin Ahir, came out openly against him and joined Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party.
Ahir even contested against Gawli in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket,
resulting in defeat for them both, but a victory for the Shiv Sena's sitting MP Mohan Rawale.