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The Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has delivered an unexpectedly strong performance in the 2024 General Elections, defying exit poll predictions and shaking up the political landscape. The alliance is currently leading in 234 seats, with the Congress party gaining significant ground, just shy of the 100-mark — an impressive recovery from its previous two elections, where it struggled to cross 50 seats.
In the run-up to the elections, the INDIA bloc had been vocal about the potential for an ‘India Shining’ moment for the BJP, drawing parallels to the 2004 elections where the Vajpayee government was unexpectedly defeated after advancing the elections, confident of a win.
The Modi government had projected a ‘370-plus’ victory for itself and a ‘400-plus’ outcome for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, the results have fallen short of these expectations, with the BJP securing only 240 seats and the NDA 293 seats. While the NDA is poised to form the next government with the support of allies such as the Janata Dal (United) (JDU) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the results are far from the landslide victory the BJP had anticipated.
Congress and Samajwadi Party’s resurgence
Among the INDIA bloc members, the Congress party has made significant gains. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has posed a formidable challenge to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, a crucial battleground state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won 22 seats in Uttar Pradesh. This time around, the BJP lost nine of these seats — eight to Akhilesh Yadav’s SP and one to the Congress.
The SP retained all five of the seats it won in 2019: Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Mainpuri, and Azamgarh. The NDA managed to retain 13 of its 34 seats in the state.
Kairana (2) - Iqra Choudhary [Vote margin: 69,116]
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Muzaffarnagar (3) - Harendra Singh Malik [Vote margin: 24,672]
Moradabad (6) - Ruchi Vira [Vote margin: 105,762]
Rampur (7) - Mohibbullah [Vote margin: 87,434]
Sambhal (8) - Zia Ur Rehman [Vote margin: 121,494]
Firozabad (20) - Akshaya Yadav [Vote margin: 89,312]
Mainpuri (21) - Dimple Yadav [Vote margin: 221,639]
Etah (22) - Devesh Shakya [Vote margin: 28,052]
Badaun (23) - Aditya Yadav [Vote margin: 34,991]
Aonla (24) - Neeraj Maurya [Vote margin: 15,969]
Kheri (28) - Utkarsh Verma ‘Madhur’ [Vote margin: 34,329]
Dhaurahra (29) - Anand Bhadauriya [Vote margin: 4,449]
Mohanlalganj (34) - R K Chaudhary [Vote margin: 70,292]
Sultanpur (38) - Rambhual Nishad [Vote margin: 43,174]
Pratapgarh (39) - Shiv Pal Singh Patel (Dr S P Singh) [Vote margin: 66,206]
Etawah (41) - Jitendra Kumar Dohare [Vote margin: 58,419]
Kannauj (42) - Akhilesh Yadav [Vote margin: 170,922]
Jalaun (45) - Narayan Das Ahirwar [Vote margin: 53,898]
Hamirpur (47) - Ajendra Singh Lodhi [Vote margin: 2,629]
Banda (48) - Krishna Devi Shivshanker Patel [Vote margin: 71,210]
Fatehpur (49) - Naresh Chandra Uttam Patel [Vote margin: 33,199]
Kaushambi (50) - Pushpendra Saroj [Vote margin: 103,944]
Faizabad (54) - Awadhesh Prasad [Vote margin: 54,567]
Ambedkar Nagar (55) - Lalji Verma [Vote margin: 137,247]
Shrawasti (58) - Ram Shiromani Verma [Vote margin: 76,673]
Basti (61) - Ram Prasad Chaudhary [Vote margin: 100,994]
Sant Kabir Nagar (62) - Laxmikant Pappu Nishad [Vote margin: 92,170]
Lalganj (68) - Daroga Prasad Saroj [Vote margin: 115,023]
Azamgarh (69) - Dharmendra Yadav [Vote margin: 161,035]
Ghosi (70) - Rajeev Rai [Vote margin: 162,943]
Salempur (71) - Ramashankar Rajbhar [Vote margin: 3,573]
Ballia (72) - Sanatan Pandey [Vote margin: 43,384]
Jaunpur (73) - Babu Singh Kushwaha [Vote margin: 99,335]
Machhlishahr (74) - Priya Saroj [Vote margin: 35,850]
Ghazipur (75) - Afzal Ansari [Vote margin: 124,861]
Chandauli (76) - Birendra Singh [Vote margin: 21,565]
Robertsganj (80) - Chhotelal [Vote margin: 129,234]
Trinamool Congress dominates West Bengal
Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress or TMC, won 29 out of the 42 seats in the state. Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata Banerjee, contesting the Diamond Harbour seat won with an impressive 710,930 vote margin. The Congress party secured one seat, while the BJP won 12.
Coochbehar (1) - Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia [Vote margin: 39,250]
Jangipur (9) - Khalilur Rahaman [Vote margin: 116,637]
Baharampur (10) - Pathan Yusuf [Vote margin: 85,022]
Murshidabad (11) - Abu Taher Khan [Vote margin: 164,215]
Krishnanagar (12) - Mahua Moitra [Vote margin: 56,705]
Barrackpur (15) - Partha Bhowmick [Vote margin: 64,438]
Dum Dum (16) - Sougata Ray [Vote margin: 70,660]
Barasat (17) - Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar [Vote margin: 114,189]
Basirhat (18) - S K Nurul Islam [Vote margin: 333,547]
Joynagar (19) - Pratima Mondal [Vote margin: 470,219]
Mathurapur (20) - Bapi Haldar [Vote margin: 201,057]
Diamond Harbour (21) - Abhishek Banerjee [Vote margin: 710.930]
Jadavpur (22) - Sayani Ghosh [Vote margin: 258,201]
Kolkata Dakshin (23) - Mala Roy [Vote margin: 187,231]
Kolkata Uttar (24) - Bandyopadhyay Sudip [Vote margin: 92,560]
Howrah (25) - Prasun Banerjee [Vote margin: 169,442]
Uluberia (26) - Sajda Ahmed [Vote margin: 218,673]
Srerampur (27) - Kalyan Banerjee [Vote margin: 174,830]
Hooghly (28) - Rachna Banerjee [Vote margin: 76,853]
Arambagh (29) - Bag Mitali [Vote margin: 6,399]
Ghatal (32) - Adhikari Deepak (Dev) [Vote margin: 182,868]
Jhargram (33) - Kalipada Saren (Kherwal) [Vote margin: 174,048]
Medinipur (34) - June Maliah [Vote margin: 27,191]
Bankura (36) - Arup Chakraborty [Vote margin: 32,778]
Bardhaman Purba (38) - Dr Sharmila Sarkar [Vote margin: 160,572]
Bardhaman-Durgapur (39) - Azad Kirti Jha [Vote margin: 137,981]
Asansol (40) - Shatrughan Prasad Sinha [Vote margin: 59,564]
Bolpur (41) - Asit Kumar Mal [Vote margin: 327,253]
Birbhum (42) - Satabdi Roy [Vote margin: 197,650]
INDIA bloc’s clean sweep in Tamil Nadu
M K Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu secured 22 seats for the INDIA bloc. The alliance altogether secured 27 seats in the southern state, including CPI, VCK, MDMK, and Congress.
Chennai North (2) - Dr Kalanidhi Veeraswamy [Vote margin: 339,222]
Chennai South (3) - T Sumathy (alias) Thamizhachi Thangapandian [Vote margin: 225,945]
Chennai Central (4) - Dayanidhi Maran [Vote margin: 244,689]
Sriperumbudur (5) - T R Baalu [Vote margin: 487,029]
Kancheepuram (6) - Selvam G [Vote margin: 221,473]
Arakkonam (7) - S Jagathratchakan [Vote margin: 306,559]
Vellore (8) - DM Kathir Anand [Vote margin: 215,702]
Dharmapuri (10) - Mani A [Vote margin: 21,300]
Tiruvannamalai (11) - Annadurai, C N [Vote Margin: 233,931]
Arani (12) - Tharanivendhan M S [Vote margin: 208,766]
Kallakurichi (14) - Malaiyarasan D [Vote margin: 53,784]
Salem (15) - Selvaganapathi T M [Vote margin: 70,357]
Namakkal (16) - Matheswaran V S [Vote margin: 29,112]
Erode (17) - K E Prakash [Vote margin: 236,566]
Nilgiris (19) - Raja A [Vote margin: 240,585]
Coimbatore (20) - Ganapathy Rajkumar P [Vote margin: 118,068]
Pollachi (21) - Eswarasamy K [Vote margin: 252,042]
Perambalur (25) - Arun Nehru [Vote margin: 389,107]
Thanjavur (30) - Murasoli S [Vote margin: 319,583]
Theni (33) - Thanga Tamilselvan [Vote margin: 278,825]
Thoothukkudi (36) - Kanimozhi Karunanidhi [Vote margin: 392,738]
Tenkasi (37) - Dr Rani Sri Kumar [Vote margin: 196,199]
Big wins from Maharashtra
INDIA bloc had an impressive performance in Maharashtra, where Congress won 13 seats, followed by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, which secured nine seats. Other INDIA bloc member to secure seats included was Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction. Meanwhile BJP won nine, Ajit Pawar’s NCP one and one seat went to an independent candidate.
Yavatmal-Washim (14) - Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh [Vote margin: 94,473]
Hingoli (15) - Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao [Vote margin: 108,602]
Parbhani (17) - Jadhav Sanjay (Bandu) Haribhau [Vote margin: 134,061]
Nashik (21) - Rajabhau (Parag) Prakash Waje [Vote margin: 162,001]
Mumbai North East (28) - Sanjay Dina Patil [Vote margin: 29,861]
Mumbai South Central (30) - Anil Yeshwant Desai [Vote margin: 53,384]
Mumbai South (31) - Arvind Ganpat Sawant [Vote margin: 52,673]
Shirdi (38) - Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure [Vote margin: 50,529]
Osmanabad (40) - Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar [Vote margin: 329,846]
Sharad PawaSharad Pawar's NCP in Maharashtra
Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction secured eight seats for INDIA bloc in Maharashtra.
Wardha (8) - Amar Sharadrao Kale [Vote margin: 81,648]
Dindori (20) - Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare [Vote margin: 113,199]
Bhiwandi (23) - Balya Mama - Suresh Gopinath Mhatre [Vote margin: 66,121]
Baramati (35) - Supriya Sule [Vote margin: 158,333]
Shirur (36) - Dr Amol Ramsing Kolhe [Vote margin: 140,951]
Ahmednagar (37) - Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke [Vote margin: 28,929]
Beed (39) - Bajrang Manohar Sonwane [Vote margin: 6,553]
Madha (43) - Mohite-Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsingh [Vote margin: 120,837]
RJD’s performance in Bihar
Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) secured four seats in Bihar for the INDIA bloc.
Patliputra (31) - Misha Bharti [Vote margin: 85,174]
Buxar (33) - Sudhakar Singh [Vote margin: 30,091]
Jahanabad (36) - Surendra Prasad Yadav [Vote margin: 142,591]
Aurangabad (37) - Abhay Kumar Sinha [Vote margin: 79,111]
The Left front secures four seats
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] led by Sitaram Yechury secured four seats in total for the INDIA bloc. This includes two seats in Tamil Nadu, one in Rajasthan and one in Kerala.
CPI(M) seats in Tamil Nadu:
Dindigul (22) - Sachithanantham R [Vote margin: 443,821]
Madurai (32) - Venkatesan S [Vote margin: 209,409]
CPI(M) seats in Kerala:
Alathur (9) - K Radhakrishnan [Vote margin: 20,111]
CPI(M) seats in Rajasthan:
Sikar (5) - Amraram [Vote margin: 72,896]
Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala and TN
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), led by K M Kader Mohideen secured three seats for INDIA bloc. This included two seats in Kerala and one seat in Tamil Nadu.
IUML seats in Kerala:
Malappuram (6) - E T Mohammed Basheer [Vote margin: 300,118]
Ponnani (7) - Dr M P Abdussamad Samadani [Vote margin: 235,760]
IUML seat in Tamil Nadu:
Ramanathapuram (35) - Navaskani K [Vote margin: 166,782]
Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won three seats in Punjab for the INDIA bloc.
Hoshiarpur (5) - Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal [Vote margin: 44,111]
Anandpur Sahib (6) - Malvinder Singh Kang [Vote margin: 10,846]
Sangrur (12) - Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer [Vote margin: 172,560]
Three seats for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won three seats in Jharkhand. COngress won two seats, while BJP won eight and one seat went to the AJSU party.
Hoshiarpur (5) - Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal [Vote margin: 44,111]
Anandpur Sahib (6) - Malvinder Singh Kang [Vote margin: 10,846]
Sangrur (12) - Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer [Vote margin: 172,560]
Communist Party of India in Tamil Nadu
Doraisamy Raja-led Communist Party of India (CPI) secured two seats in Tamil Nadu for the INDIA bloc.
Tiruppur (18) - Subbarayan, K [Vote margin: 125,928]
Nagapattinam (29) - Selvaraj V [Vote margin: 208,957]
Two more for VCK in Tamil Nadu
Thol Thirumavalavan’s Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) secured two seats in Tamil Nadu for the INDIA bloc. The alliance altogether secured 27 seats in the southern state.
Viluppuram (13) - Ravikumar D [Vote margin: 70,703]
Chidambaram (27) - Thirumavalavan Thol [Vote margin: 103,554]
JKNC secures two in J&K
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), led by Farooq Abdullah won two seats for the INDIA bloc, the same as BJP. One seat was secured by an independent candidate.
Srinagar (2) - Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi [Vote margin: 188,416]
Anantnag-Rajouri (3) - Mian Altaf Ahmad [Vote margin: 281,794]
CPI(ML)L’s two seats in Bihar
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation [CPI(ML)L], led by Dipankar Bhattacharya won two seats in Bihar.
Arrah (32) - Sudama Prasad [Vote margin: 59,808]
Karakat (35) - Raja Ram Singh [Vote margin: 105,858]
MDMK secures Tiruchirappalli
Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) secured the Tiruchirappalli seat in Tamil Nadu for the INDIA bloc.
Tiruchirappalli (24) - Durai Vaiko [Vote margin: 313094]
Nagaur constituency goes to RLTP
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLTP) Chief Hanuman Beniwal, also has previously served as member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Khinvsar, secured the Nagaur seat in Rajasthan, as part of the INDIA bloc.
Nagaur (14) - Hanuman Beniwal [Vote Margin: 42225]
One seat for Bharat Adivasi Party in Rajasthan
Rajasthan’s Banswara Lok Sabha seat was won by Raj Kumar Roat, a member of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP).
Banswara (20) - Raj Kumar Roat [Vote Margin: 247054]
RSP secures one seat in RSP
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) won one seat in Kerala.
Kollam (18) - N K Premachandran [Vote Margin: 150302]
Kerala Congress secures one
Kerala Congress (KC) won one seat in Kerala for INDIA bloc.
Kottayam (14) - Adv K Francis George [Vote Margin: 87266]
The results indicate a significant shift in the political dynamics of India. Despite the BJP’s substantial seat count, the unexpected strength of the opposition highlights growing challenges for the ruling party. The INDIA bloc’s performance highlights the potential for a more balanced and competitive political landscape moving forward.
As the NDA prepares to form the next government, it will need to address the unexpected surge in opposition strength and recalibrate its strategies to maintain stability and governance.
