 "One-third of Lok Sabha MPs elected with 30% or fewer votes in 2024: ECI")
Around 178 Lok Sabha members were elected with 30 per cent or fewer votes from their constituencies in the 2024 General Elections, up from 125 in 2019, an analysis of data released by the Election Commission of India on Thursday revealed. This represents nearly one-third of the 542 members in Lok Sabha.
Party-wise, 57 out of BJP’s 240 MPs elected, 30 of Congress’ 99 MPs elected, and 31 out of the Samajwadi Party’s 37 MPs were elected with 30 per cent or fewer votes from their respective constituencies.
Voter share distribution among MPs
Of the 542 constituencies, except Surat where the BJP candidate won unopposed, eight MPs were elected with just 10 to 20 per cent of the votes. And 170 MPs secured their Lok Sabha berth with 20 to 30 per cent votes. MPs of 266 constituencies went first past the post with 30 to 40 per cent votes, and 92 MPs won with 40 to 50 per cent votes. Only six MPs won with more than 50 per cent of the votes, the ECI report revealed.
Of the 178 candidates who won with 30 per cent or fewer votes, 65 were from Uttar Pradesh, 30 from Bihar, and 24 from Maharashtra.
Breakdown of vote percentages for winning candidates
* Five candidates won with 30 per cent or fewer votes
* 28 candidates won with more than 30 per cent but less than or equal to 40 per cent
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* 230 candidates won with more than 40 per cent but less than or equal to 50 per cent
* 215 candidates won with more than 50 per cent but less than 60 per cent
* 57 candidates won with more than 60 per cent but less than or equal to 70 per cent
* Only seven candidates won with more than 70 per cent of the votes
Vote share of six major national parties
About the vote share of national parties, the ECI reported that six national parties, namely Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Samajwadi Party (SP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (CPI-M), Indian National Congress (INC), and the National People’s Party, took part in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which collectively garnered 63.35 per cent of the total valid votes.
7,190 candidates lost their deposits in 2024
The Election Commission further reported that 7,190 aspiring candidates lost their deposits of security amount (Rs 25,000) in 2024 compared to 6,923 in 2019. Of the 3,921 independent candidates, only seven secured their Lok Sabha berth, and 3,905 lost their deposits. In the 2024 General Election, BJP received a total of 23.59 crore votes, Congress received 13.67 crore votes, and SP secured 2.95 crore votes.