Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke was born on March 10, 1980 in a simple family in Hanga village in Parner taluka. His father, Dnyandev Lanke was the primary teacher. So, his mother Shakuntala was a housewife. His parents named him Nilesh. As the father was a teacher, his father wanted his son to learn well and get a good job. So, they would take him to school with them. He was educated up to class IV in a Zilla Parishad school with his father as a teacher. He later completed his high school education in Hanga. He had a passion for wrestling when he was young. He used to go to many places to play wrestling. Sometimes he would come home late at night.

At the urging of activists, he contested the Panchayat Samiti elections in 2007 but did not succeed. In his youth he got the post of Shiv Sena taluka chief. Through this he continued his social work. Along with various social schemes, the government started implementing schemes. In 2010, he elected his own panel in the Gram Panchayat of his Hanga village and became the Sarpanch of the village.