5.7 Lakh Followers, But No Win: Nirmala Nawale Suffers Poll Defeat in Pune District
Shirur, 9th February 2026: Former sarpanch Nirmala Nawale’s presence on social media rivals that of top influencers. A highly educated leader, Nawale regularly showcased her development work through reels and short videos. Her strong understanding of digital platforms helped her build a massive following in a short span. However, this online popularity did not translate into votes on the ground. She was defeated by a BJP candidate in her constituency.
Nirmala Nawale contested the election from the Karegaon–Kanhur Mesai group of the Shirur Panchayat Samiti on a ticket from the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction). Despite her aggressive and creative social media campaign, Nawale failed to make an electoral breakthrough. BJP candidate Manisha Satish Pachange defeated her in the election.
Nawale, the former sarpanch of Karegaon in Pune district, has around 575,000 followers on Instagram. An IT engineer by profession, she was elected unopposed as the sarpanch of Karegaon. Since then, her popularity on social media grew rapidly.
She received the ticket from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for the Karegaon Panchayat Samiti group. From the beginning of the campaign, Nawale ran a high-visibility digital outreach drive. Her corner meetings and small rallies also drew good public response. Given her strong online support, many believed she would win the election comfortably.
On Saturday, polling was held for 73 Zilla Parishad seats and 146 Panchayat Samiti seats in Pune district. The Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) emerged as the single largest party in the Pune Zilla Parishad, crossing the majority mark of 37 seats needed to form the body.
