Lakshmi Andekar polled 12,641 votes, defeating BJP’s Rutuja Gadale by just 141 votes. Gadale came second with 12,500 votes. To protest the murder of her son, Ayush’s mother Kalyani Komkar, who is also Bandu’s daughter, contested the election against Lakshmi Andekar, but lost miserably, getting only 282 votes.

Speaking to reporters, Priyanka and Pradnya Andekar, who fronted Sonali and Lakshmi’s election campaign, said they were grateful to Ajit Pawar for showing faith in them. “It is people’s love for us that has led to our victory. When we approached the voters, many of them told us about the work that Vanraj and Udaykant Andekar had done for them over the years,” they said.

Soon after Sonali and Lakshmi Andekar were announced as winners, their followers shouted the slogan “Neki ka kaam, Andekar ka naam”.

Bandu Andekar had raised the same slogan when he, Sonali and Lakshmi were taken from Yerwada central prison to PMC’s Bhavani Peth district office on December 27, under bandobast police, to submit their nomination form for the elections.

At that moment, even though Bandu’s face was covered and the police had tied him with a rope, he raised his hand, making a victory sign with his fingers. Then, walking around the district office, he shouted slogans “Neki ka kaam, Andekar ka kaam (Andekar means good work)” and “Andekarana mat, Vikasala mat (Voting for Andekar means voting for development)”. He also shouted that he was a candidate and not a thief. A video of the incident had gone viral.

Bandu’s nomination, which was incomplete, was rejected. However, Sonali and Lakshmi were fielded by Ajit Pawar’s NCP from ward number 23, which covers the inner city areas of Raviwar Peth – Nana Peth, where the Andekar gang has been influential in criminal and political activities for over three decades.

Although it caused a lot of controversy, Ajit Pawar and his party extended their full support to the Andekar family during the election campaign. Sonali’s daughter and other members of the Andekar family were seen sharing the stage with Ajit Pawar at election rallies in the city. Speaking to the media, Pawar defended the candidacy of the Andekars and stated that if someone commits a crime, the entire family cannot be blamed.

Having been mentioned in sensational gang war crimes in the city, the Andekar family is known to have entered politics in Pune around the 1990s. The gang was once led by Bandu’s brother Balkrishna alias Balu Andekar, who was murdered in the Shivajinagar court premises by his rival Pramod Malvadkar in July 1984.

After that, Bandu took charge of the gang’s activities, while his brothers Udaykant (Lakshmi’s husband) and Ramakant became corporators of the PMC. Vatsala Andekar alias Akka from the Andekar family became the mayor of Pune city in 1998. Also, Bandu’s wife Rajashree Andekar won the civic elections twice in 2007 and 2012.

The Andekar family maintained an association with the Congress and the NCP. Sonali’s husband and Bandu’s eldest son Vanraj Andekar had won the previous civic elections in 2017 on an NCP ticket. However, Vanraj was shot dead near his residence in Nana Peth on September 1, 2024.

Bandu’s daughter Sanjivani Komkar, her husband Jayant and her brother-in-law Ganesh Komkar (who is the husband of Bandu’s second daughter Kalyani Komkar), a rival of Somnath Sayaji Gaikwad, were among those arrested for Vanraj’s murder.

According to police, to avenge Vanraj’s death, Ganesh and Kalyani’s son Ayush Komkar was shot dead by two gunmen in the parking lot of their residential building in Bhavani Peth on September 5, 2025.

During the investigation, the police arrested 16 people, including Bandu, his son Krushna Andekar, Lakshmi Andekar, Sonali Andekar, Swaraj Wadekar and others, in the Ayush Komkar murder case.

Ayush’s mother Kalyani not only made a public appeal against the Andekars during the election campaign but also ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate against Lakshmi.

Following Ayush’s murder, the Pune city police arrested 54 people linked to the Andekar gang in 12 cases. The stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked in four cases. Police also seized 40 bank accounts of the Andekar family. Additionally, 52 properties worth Rs 1.31 crore belonging to the Andekar gang were seized and seven illegal properties were demolished. The police even formed a special squad to monitor the activities of gangsters participating in the PMC elections.

During the election campaign, the Andekar family and their supporters sought votes in the name of the murdered Vanraj Andekar. While Sonali and Lakshmi remained in prison, pamphlets bearing Vanraj’s name were distributed among voters, with an appeal: “Vyarth na ho balidan, kara aple matdan (Vote for us so that Vanraj’s sacrifice will not be in vain).”

The Andekars also used social media platforms extensively to reach out to voters along with two other NCP candidates, Aniket Kothavale and Khan Shahbaz Mohammad Arif from ward number 23. Despite contesting from prison, Sonali and Lakshmi won, while Kothavale and Khan lost to BJP’s Pallavi Jawale and Vishal Dhanawade respectively.