Four independent candidates, including cine star Sumalatha Ambareesh, have made it to the Lok Sabha this time compared to three during the previous general elections in 2014.
Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya in Karnataka trounced Janata Dal (Secular) nominee Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of incumbent chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. She won the seat with a margin of 1,25,876 votes.
Sumalatha is the wife of three-time Congress MP and film star Ambareesh, who died last year. She contested as an independent after being denied ticket by the Congress. The BJP backed her by not fielding a candidate in the constituency.
Navnit Ravi Rana defeated Shiv Sena stalwart Anandrao V Adsul in Amravati. A five-time MP, Adsul lost by a margin of 36,951.
From Assam, Naba Kumar Sarania won the Kokrajhar seat for the second time in a row, defeating Pramila Rani Brahma of the Bodoland Peoples Front by over 30,000 votes.
Besides, Mohanbhai Sanjibhai Delkar won Dadar and Nagar Haveli by defeating sitting MP Natubhai Gomanbhai Patel of the BJP by 9,001 votes.
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During the 2014 general elections, three independent candidates had won -- two from Kerala and one from Assam.
Innocent from Chalakudy constituency had won with a margin of 13,884 votes while Joice George of Idukki defeated his competitor by 50,542 votes.
In 2009, as many as nine independent candidates had entered the 15th Lok Sabha.
The highest number of winning independent candidates was seen in 1957, when they bagged 42 seats, followed by 37 in 1952. Independent candidates won 20 seats in 1962 elections, 35 in 1967, 14 in 1971 and 12 seats in 1989. In all the rest 10 Lok Sabha elections, they could not cross single digits.
The lowest count was observed in 1991 when only one had won out of total 5,514 independent candidates.
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