Of the 317 candidates in the fray for the 2026 Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections, 64 women have been elected to the 128-member general body. Of them, 63 belong to political parties, while only one is independent. One candidate managed to come out ahead with a margin of victory of only 21 votes.
The BJP has become the party with the largest number of women corporators, with 42 members, followed by the NCP led by Ajit Pawar (18) and the Eknath Shinde-led by Shiv Sena (3).
Pimpri-Chinchwad has 8,07,966 women voters, of which 4,63,827 (57.41%) exercised their right to vote.
Among the 64 winning candidates, seven won landslide victories, each with margins of more than 10,000 votes, all from the BJP.
Sarika Gaikwad (BJP) recorded the highest margin, defeating Anuradhya Solunke (NCP) by 16,011 votes in Prabhag No. 3 (Moshi-Dudulgaon-Charholi). The Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate finished a distant third with 2,253 votes.
Sneha Kalate (BJP) secured the second highest margin, defeating Seema Sathe (NCP) by 14,349 votes in Prabhag No. 26 (general category, women).
Other BJP candidates who won by huge margins include Reshma Bhujbal (14,256 votes), Shruti Dolas (13,574), Hirabai Ghule (12,992), Archana Saste (12,991) and Shaileja More (12,866). While Shaileja More and Hirabai Ghule previously served as deputy mayors, the remaining five are first-time corporators.
In the scheduled caste category, open to both men and women, ex-corporators suffered defeats at the hands of male candidates.
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Former NCP corporator Seema Sawale lost to Dr Suhas Kamble, who heads Sai Hospital in Moshi, by a narrow margin of 256 votes in Indrayani Nagar-Balajinagar Prabhag.
“I have fought for my area for 20 years. I have won elections three times. I was chairman of the standing committee… However, a newcomer who has done nothing for the area won. I accept the verdict of the people with humility. More than 12,000 people voted for me and that shows the trust of the people in me. But I will not remain silent, I will continue to raise my voice,” Sawale said.
Similarly, former corporator Sulakshna Dhar (NCP-SP) lost to Jitendra Nanaware (NCP) by 3,623 votes. Another former corporator, Chandrakanta Sonkamble, who had won several times in the past, lost by 711 votes to Raju Bansode (NCP). Shiv Sena candidate Sandeep Gaikwad got 5,133 votes in the same constituency.
Seven candidates lost by margins of less than 1,000 votes.
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The closest contest was in Prabhag No. 19, where Savita Aswani (NCP) won by a margin of just 21 votes. Aswani got 9,525 votes, while his BJP rival Jayshree Gawde got 9,504 votes. The prabhag extends across Pimpri Camp, parts of Chinchwad and extends to Akurdi.
“In the first three rounds, Jayshree Gawde was leading. But till the 11th round, Savita Aswani took over. After that, our rival candidate led by 1,700 votes till the 15th round. Then we broke the lead. In the last two rounds, we won by 21 votes,” said Dhanraj Aswani, husband of Savita Aswani, who was first elected as a corporator in 2012.
He added: “In the penultimate round, supporters of our rival candidate began breaking cookies assuming they had won, but the election official clarified that this was not true until the last round was over. In the last round, we won by 21 votes.”
After Aswani was declared elected, Gawde’s camp demanded a recount. “The candidate demanded a recount of all the votes. We told her that we would count the postal votes and not all the EVM votes… She left,” returning officer Pallavi Ghatge said.
Shalini Gujar is the only independent candidate who won, from Thergaon area (Prabhag No. 19). “The BJP gave my wife the party nomination, but the party could not send her the AB form on time,” said her husband Kantilal Gujar. Later, Shalini Gujar was sponsored by the BJP.
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