Whirlpool Of Emotions For BJP & Oppn As 2024 Lok Sabha Contest Ends With Hits And Misses

Lok Sabha Results 2024: The NDA got a total of 293 seats with the BJP getting 241 seats. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc got 232 seats with the Congress getting 99 seats, up from 52 seats in 2019.

Supporters with a cutout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during celebration of the BJP's success in Lok Sabha elections in Bengaluru.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections gave a historic third term to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA, which comfortably crossed the magic number of 272.

However, the election was a mixed bag full of surprises: Congress doubling its seats since the 2019 polls, the BJP's rout in UP and the emergence of two kingpins.

The NDA got a total of 294 seats with the BJP getting 241 seats. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc got 232 seats with the Congress getting 99 seats, up from 52 seats in 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters exuded confidence saying that it's for the first time that a party has formed a government for the third time since 1962.

Ahead of the swearing-in ceremoncy likely on June 9, NDA has called a meeting of allies including TDP and JD(U) on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the opposition alliance have also called a meeting of constituent parties in New Delhi. 

Game Of Two Kingpins

The Lok Sabha outcome, however, left BJP short of the halfway mark of 272, as it scored 241 seats resorting to an alliance with partners.

The BJP has to depend on its allies, especially Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, who have won 16 and 12 seats respectively, to make up for the shortfall.

Congress has not ruled out an alliance with TDP and JD(U) with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying a call on reaching out to Naidu's TDP and the Janata Dal United, both of which have been former allies of the party. A decision on the alliance formation will be taken at a meeting of the INDIA alliance tomorrow. 

BJP's Setback In UP 

The biggest setback to the NDA came in Uttar Pradesh, which has been dominated by the saffron camp ever since the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

The BJP, which won 62 of the 80 seats in the state, maintained a lead in only 33 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party emerged as the single-largest party with 37 seats.

The election can also be considered no less than a lifeline for the Congress, which has been looking for its lost political ground in Uttar Pradesh for the last three decades. Congress took a decisive lead in six out of 17 seats it contested in the state.

The BJP also lost grounds in Maharashtra, where its seat tally fell from 23 to 10 seats. The The tally of BJP-led NDA, which got 41 out of 48 seats also fell to 18 seats.

BJP's Clean Sweep 

The BJP has swept 5 states in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, down from 2019 when it swept 9 states.

Narendra Modi-led NDA has swept Madhya Pradesh (29 seats), Himachal Pradesh (4 seats), Delhi (7 seats), Uttarakhand (5 seats) and Tripura (2 seats), as per the latest trends on the Election Commission website.

While the BJP repeated its success in Himachal, Uttarakhand, Tripura and Delhi, the saffron party failed to repeat its success in Rajasthan, Nagaland and Gujarat. 

However, the BJP camp won Congress seat Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh by defeating Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath, leading to a clean sweep in the state.

Major Upsets

BJP leaders Smriti Irani, Ajay Mishra Teni, Arjun Munda and Kailash Chaudhary were among the Union Ministers who lost to their opponents in a major setback for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections.

Smriti Irani, who won the Amethi Lok Sabha seat by defeating Rahul Gandhi in 2019, lost to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, with a margin of over 1.39 lakh votes.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son was arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, trailed the Samajwadi Party's Utkarsh Sharma by over 33,000 votes at 4 PM. 

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda trailed Congress candidate Kalicharan Munda by over 1.28 lakh votes. Other prominent losses include Rajeev Chandrasekhar and K Annamalai.