NEW DELHI: The final count for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has concluded with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing a total of 240 seats. Despite this being fewer than anticipated, the BJP maintained a decisive lead over the Opposition, Congress, which garnered 99 seats.
The results have several significant victories and upsets across various constituencies. Take a look at the biggest winners in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 including PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Shankar Lalwani. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has successfully retained his Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, defeating Congress candidate Ajay Rai by a margin of 1,52,513 votes.
Amit Shah, the Home Minister, triumphed in Gandhi Nagar by a staggering 7,44,716 votes against Congress’ Sonam Ranambhai Patel. Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister, secured the Lucknow seat for the third consecutive term, overcoming Samajwadi Party candidate Ravidas Mehrotra by 1,35,159 votes.
Shankar Lalwani, the incumbent MP from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, achieved an exceptional victory marking the highest margin in this election, of 12,26,751 votes. He was pitted against Bahujan Samaj Party’s Sanjay. NOTA also made a record with two lakh votes. Kangana Ranaut, known for her fearless portrayals on screen, made a remarkable political debut Contesting on a BJP ticket from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, she won against Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh by 74,755 votes.
BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who contested from the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, won by a margin of 8,21,408 votes against Congress’s Prataphanu Sharma. Also, Bunty Vivek Sahu of BJP secured a victory in Chhindwara, defeating Nakul Nath of Congress with a margin of 1,13,618 votes.
Significant Opposition Wins
Rahul Gandhi recorded a major victory in Raebareli, defeating BJP’s Dinesh Pratap by 3,90,030 votes. He also won Waynad’s seat with a margin of 3,64,422 votes over his nearest rival Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India.
KL Sharma of Congress clinched the Amethi seat by defeating the incumbent MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani with a margin of 1,67,196 votes Notably, Irani had defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 elections. Shashi Tharoor retained his Thiruvananthapuram seat in Kerala for a record fourth term, defeating BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar by 16,077 votes.
Key Losses for BJP
Union Minister RK Singh of BJP lost to Sudama Prasad of CPIML by a margin of 59,808 votes in Arrah Lok Sabha seat. Union Tribal Affairs and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda lost the Khunti Lok Sabha seat to Congress’s Kalicharan Munda by a margin of 1,49,675 votes. Notably, four Union ministers lost in the election — Smriti Irani, R K Singh, Arjun Munda and Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
After a neck-and-neck fight, Congress incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor has won Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat against BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar for a record fourth term with a margin of 16,077 votes. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi won the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency defeating BJP’s Madhavi Latha by a margin of 3,38,087 votes.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Dattaram Waikar secured the lowest victory margin of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, defeating Shiv Sena UBT candidate Amol Gajanan Kirtikar by a mere 48 votes from the Mumbai North West constituency. TMC’s Yusuf Pathan won the Baharampur seat against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury with a margin of 85,022 votes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in his coalition — JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP’s chief Chandrababu Naidu, falling 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark — a stunning blow for the PM, who had hoped for a landslide victory ‘400 paar’ in the 543 parliamentary constituencies.
For the first time, since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own — far fewer than the record 303 it won in the 2019 election. In the face of the surprising drop in the BJP’s support, the Opposition INDIA bloc claimed they had won a victory of sorts, Congress said that the election had been a “moral and political loss” for PM Modi. (ANI)