Whisnu was a member of , and had served as the legislature's deputy speaker as a member of PDI-P. As deputy speaker in 2010, he was expelled from the chamber by the speaker Wisnu Wardhana during the dispute over a proposed tax. He was appointed to replace
Bambang Dwi Hartono as mayor
Tri Rismaharini (Risma)'s deputy on 8 November 2013, although he was only sworn in on 24 January 2014. As Risma's deputy, Whisnu publicly opposed her 2014 decision to shut down the , citing the economic dependence of the local inhabitants and lost jobs beyond the sex workers. Regardless, Risma retained Whisnu as running mate, and the pair was reelected following the
2015 mayoral election with over 86% of votes. Risma and Whisnu's first term ended on 28 September 2015, and their second term commenced on 17 February 2016. When Risma was appointed Minister of Social Affairs on 23 December 2020, Whisnu became the acting mayor the following day. He was officially sworn in as a full mayor on 11 February 2021, although his tenure would only last one week, as it ended on 17 February 2021. Whisnu had registered to run as PDI-P's candidate in the
city's 2020 mayoral election, but the party instead endorsed
Eri Cahyadi with running mate
Armuji, and Whisnu campaigned for Cahyadi during the election. Whisnu had intended to run for a seat in the
East Java Regional People's Representative Council in the
2024 legislative election. ==Death==