The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Elections 2026 concluded with polling on January 15, 2026, and vote counting initiated on January 16, 2026. The Punekar News article, published on January 15, 2026, made seat predictions based on online voter sentiment and social media discussions. It accurately projected the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to emerge as the single largest party, estimating between 65 and 72 seats in the 162-member PMC. This prediction was corroborated by various exit polls from other credible news sources, which also indicated a strong performance for the BJP. For instance, Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol anticipated 120-125 seats for the BJP, while exit polls by PRAB suggested around 91 seats. The article also highlighted the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine, consisting of both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar factions, gaining ground. Punekar News predicted 40 to 50 seats for this alliance. This combined effort was noted by other reports as a strategy to consolidate their traditional voter base and challenge the BJP. Actual results, as reported by The Indian Express on January 16, 2026, showed the BJP winning 97 seats, significantly exceeding Punekar News' prediction but confirming its leading position. The NCP secured 39 seats, closely aligning with Punekar News' estimation for the combine and establishing itself as the second-largest party. Other parties' performance included Shiv Sena with 10 seats, the Indian National Congress with 9 seats, independent candidates with 4 seats, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) with 2 seats, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) with 1 seat. The overall voter turnout for the Pune PMC elections was recorded at approximately 54%. The Punekar News article, while a prediction, accurately captured the general electoral trends before the official results were fully declared, proving to be largely reliable in its directional claims. The total number of corporators in PMC for these elections was 165 or 174 as per different reports, with the reported results summing to 162.