New Delhi: In a surprising turn of events, several heavyweight BJP leaders faced defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, marking a significant shift in the political landscape. Among them were prominent figures such as Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni, and Kailash Chaudhary, who all experienced setbacks at the polls.
MINISTERS WHO FACED DEFEAT
- Smriti Irani (Minister for Women and Child Development)
Former Amethi victor Smriti Irani, known for her historic win against Rahul Gandhi in 2019, lost her seat to Congress candidate and a close aide of the Gandhi family Kishori Lal Sharma by 1,67,196 lakh votes.
- Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Minister of State Electronics and Information Technology)
Rajeev Similarly, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology couldn't secure victory in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, losing to Congress heavyweight Shashi Tharoor by over 16,077 votes.
- Ajay Mishra Teni (Minister of State for Home Affairs)
The election also saw setbacks for Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni, whose association with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence possibly affected his chances as he lost to the Samajwadi Party's Utkarsh Verma by over 34,329 votes. His son was arrested in connection with the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri of October 2021. The SP contested the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Congress.
- Subhas Sarkar (Minister of State for Education)
Subhas Sarkar was defeated by Trinamool Congress candidate Arup Chakraborty in Bankura Lok Sabha seat of West Bengal by a margin of 32,778 votes.
- Arjun Munda (Tribal Minister)
In Jharkhand's Khunti Lok Sabha constituency, Union Tribal Affairs Minister and sitting MP Arjun Munda lost to Congress candidate Kalicharan Munda by 1,49,675 lakh votes.
- Kailash Choudhary (Minister of State for Agriculture)
Kailash Choudhary stood in third position in Rajasthan's Barmer, with a gap of 4.48 lakh votes from the winning candidate, Ummeda Ram Beniwal.
- L Murugan (Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying)
Murugan faced disappointing results in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris as he lost to DMK's A Raja by a big margin of 2,40,585 lakh, highlighting the diverse challenges BJP candidates encountered across states.
- Nisith Pramanik (Minister of State for Home)
BJP's north Bengal face and Union minister of state for home Nisith Pramanik lost the Cooch Behar seat to TMC's Jagadish Chandra Basunia by over 39,000 votes.
- Sanjeev Balyan (Union Minister of State Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying)
Balyan lost the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat to Samajwadi Party's Harendra Singh Malik by a margin of over 24,000 votes.
MINISTERS WHO REGISTERED VICTORIES
Amit Shah (Union Home Minister)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah won the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Gujarat's Gandhinagar seat with a margin of over 7.4 lakh votes against opponent Congress candidate Sonal Patel. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Amit Shah won from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of more than 5.57 lakh votes.
Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister)
BJP candidate and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh won the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 1,35,159 votes on Tuesday. Rajnath Singh polled 6,12,709 votes against Samajwadi Party candidate Ravidas Mehrotra who got 4,77,550 seats. This is the third consecutive victory of Singh from Lucknow.
Nitin Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport and Highways)
Union minister Nitin Gadkari won from the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency for the third time in a row, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 1,37, 603 votes. The senior BJP leader polled 6,55,027 votes against 5,17,424 votes received by Congress' Vikas Thakre in 20 rounds of counting. Gadkari's winning margin went down by 78,397 in this election. In 2019, he had defeated Congress' Nana Patole by 2,16,000 votes.
Nityanand Rai (Minister of State for Home Affairs)
Nityanand Rai, who was eyeing a hat-trick from Ujairpur Lok Sabha Seat, retained the seat by a margin of over 60,289 votes. Rai got 5,15,159 votes while INDIA bloc constituent RJD’s senior leader Alok Kumar Mehta was his closest rival, polling 454870 votes.
Anurag Thakur (Minister of Information and Broadcasting)
Anurag Thakur secured a fifth consecutive term from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur seat, defeating Congress' Satpal Raizada by a substantial margin of 1,82,357 votes.
Kiren Rijiju (Minister of Earth Sciences)
In Arunachal West, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Earth Sciences, secured victory over his Congress counterpart Nabam Tuki by a significant margin of 1,00,738 votes.
Other winning ministers
The electoral landscape in Uttarakhand witnessed Ajay Bhatt, Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism, emerging victorious in the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat by defeating Congress' Prakash Joshi by a significant margin of 3,34,548 votes.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal showcased a dominant performance in Mumbai North, maintaining a confident lead of 3,56,996 votes. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, marked his debut in Lok Sabha elections with a victory in Rajasthan's Alwar, defeating Lalit Yadav of Congress by 48,282 votes.
Meanwhile, in Karnataka, Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat emerged victorious in Bikaner and Jodhpur constituencies by 55,711 and 1,15,677 votes respectively.
MoS Panchayati Raj Kapil Patil lost to Suresh Gopinath Mhatre of NCP (Sharad Pawar) in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi and the Congress' Kalyan Vaijnath Rao Kale defeated BJP leader and MoS Railways Raosaheb Danve in Jalna.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya clinched Gujarat's Porbandar by a substantial margin of 3,83,360 votes, while Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, secured victory by 1,19,836 votes in Odisha's Sambalpur. G. Kishan Reddy, Culture Minister and BJP President in Telangana, won the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival Danam Nagender by 49,944 votes.
Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Shobha Karandlaje (BJP) posted wins in Dharwad and Bangalore North Lok Sabha segments, respectively, according to the Election Commission.
Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways Shantanu Thakur was leading in West Bengal's Bongaon seat by 73,693 votes. Union minister of state for commerce and industry Anupriya Patel defeated Samajwadi Party's Ramesh Chand Bind by a margin of 37,810 votes in Mirzapur parliamentary seat of Uttar Pradesh.
Despite these victories, the BJP faced setbacks in the Hindi heartland states, where partial poll results revealed stunning losses, prompting the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity. (With agency inputs)
