Irani to Chandrasekhar: BJP heavyweights lose ground in 2024 polls
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra "Teni," Kailash Chaudhary, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar were among the 13 Union ministers who faced defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the election results declared on Tuesday, the BJP has failed to secure a majority on its own and is relying on its allies to form the government. The BJP has won 240 seats—short of the 272 majority mark—whereas the ruling National Democratic Alliance has 295 seats.
Irani loses to KL Sharma in Amethi
One of the most notable defeats was Irani's in Amethi, where she lost to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma by 1,67,196 votes. Irani had previously captured the Amethi seat in 2019, defeating Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a significant victory. This win was considered historic as she defeated the former Congress president in a constituency long held by the Gandhi family.
Teni, embroiled in Lakhimpur Kheri case, loses
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, "Teni," lost to the Samajwadi Party's Utkarsh Verma by over 34,329 votes from the Kheri parliamentary seat. This was the first Lok Sabha election since the October 3, 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri incident, where a vehicle allegedly linked to the minister mowed down four protesting farmers. Ajay's son, Ashish, the main accused, is currently out on bail. Despite public resentment over the case, the BJP had supported the minister.
Other prominent loses of BJP
Separately, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda suffered a heavy defeat in Jharkhand's Khunti constituency, losing to the Congress's Kalicharan Munda by 149,675 votes. In Rajasthan's Barmer, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Kailash Choudhary came third, trailing the Congress's Ummeda Ram Beniwal by 448,000 votes. In Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, was defeated by Congress veteran Shashi Tharoor by 16,077 votes.
BJP setbacks not limited to prominent faces
The BJP's losses extended beyond its top leaders. Ministers like Mahendra Nath Pandey, Kaushal Kishore, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sanjeev Balyan, Rao Saheb Danve, RK Singh, V Muraleedharan, L Murugan, Subhas Sarkar, and Nishith Pramanik also faced defeats. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries, lost his seat in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, was defeated by the SP's RK Chaudhary by 70,292 votes in Mohanlalganj.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti loses Fatehpur
Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, lost in UP's Fatehpur. Minister of State for Railways, Rao Saheb Danve, was defeated in Maharashtra's Jalna by the Congress's Kalyan Vaijnath Rao Kale. Cabinet Minister RK Singh lost to Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Sudama Prasad in Bihar's Arrah. Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan was defeated by the SP's Harendra Singh Malik in Muzaffarnagar, with a margin of over 24,000 votes.
Ministers face loss in Kerala, West Bengal
Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan, was defeated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. In Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris, Minister of State L Murugan, lost to the DMK's A Raja by a significant margin of 2,40,585 votes. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nishith Pramanik, lost the Cooch Behar seat in West Bengal to the TMC's Jagadish Chandra Basunia. Minister of State for Education, Subhas Sarkar, was defeated by the TMC's Arup Chakraborty in Bankura, West Bengal.
