In 2003, Desai was a social worker with Krantiveer Jhopdi Vikas Sangh to help rehabilitate slum dwellers. She founded the
Bhumata Brigade on 27 September 2010. Since its founding, the brigade has grown from 400 to 5,000 registered members . She contested the 2012 elections for the
Pune Municipal Corporation from Balaji Nagar ward as a member of
Indian National Congress; but lost. Post Shingnapur entry, Desai reached the
Mahalakshmi Temple in
Kolhapur where the temple management committee allowed her entry but the priests became violent against her. She also entered the inner sanctum of the
Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple near
Nashik where she was peacefully escorted by the police, but only with wet clothes similar to how the temple allows men. On 12 May 2016, she made a second attempt and entered the mosque under tight security but not in the inner sanctum where women are not allowed. In November 2018, she made an unsuccessful attempt to visit the
Sabarimala temple in
Kerala during the Mandalam-Makaravilakk pilgrim season. The temple had legal as well as religious restrictions that prevented the entry of women of menstruating age (approx. 10–50 years) since 1991 which was overturned through a verdict by the
Supreme Court of India in October 2018. Even though a dozen women of menstruating age had attempted to visit the temple after the verdict came, all of them proved unsuccessful largely due to protests. Desai was also blocked by protesters at
Cochin International Airport on 16 November 2018, while on her journey to Sabarimala. She decided to return after getting stranded inside the airport for more than 14 hours and vowed to come back again. She did not. ==Reality Shows==