Two relatives of notorious gangster Suryakant alias Bandu Andekar, who is currently in jail in connection with the murder of his grandson, have been elected from ward number 23 in the Pune Municipal Corporation elections, results declared on Friday.
Sonali Andekar, Bandu Andekar’s daughter-in-law, and his sister-in-law Laxmi Andekar, both candidates of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), secured victory amid sharp political controversy. Their nomination had earlier drawn criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which accused the NCP of fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds.
Sonali Andekar is the wife of former NCP corporator Vanraj Andekar, who was brutally murdered on September 1, 2024, in Pune’s Nana Peth area. Police investigations had revealed that Vanraj was allegedly killed by Ganesh Komkar, the husband of one of his two sisters, following a long-running property dispute.
In a grim turn of events, exactly a year later in 2025, Ganesh Komkar’s 19-year-old son Ayush Komkar was murdered, allegedly as an act of revenge, further deepening the cycle of violence surrounding the Andekar family.
The election of Bandu Andekar’s relatives has reignited debate over criminal influence in local politics, with opposition parties questioning the NCP’s decision to back the candidates despite the serious allegations linked to their family.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)
