Results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are in.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party, while the Opposition INDIA bloc managed to secure 232, 42 short of the halfway mark.
Although the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed the majority mark with 293 seats, the Opposition is notably stronger compared to 2019 and 2014.
advertisementThe 2024 verdict reflects that electorates have voted against feudal politics and also for a strong opposition.
IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIAIn this election, grassroots voters had opinions about both the BJP and the Opposition.
Results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are in. The BJP has emerged as the single largest party, while the Opposition INDIA bloc managed to secure 232, 42 short of the halfway mark. Although the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has crossed the majority mark with 293 seats, the Opposition is notably stronger compared to 2019 and 2014.
This clearly shows that the Indian voters stood firm and delivered their verdict with full force. It is interesting to see that while the winning coalition is not overly enthusiastic, the losing alliance is celebrating like never before.
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The 2024 verdict reflects that electorates have voted against feudal politics and also for a strong opposition. Nevertheless, voters ultimately have chosen Narendra Modi for a third term as Prime Minister of India, a feat achieved by any leader after 60 years.
Aaj Tak's Managing Editor (Special Project) Anjana Om Kashyap shared her insights on the Lok Sabha election mandate
COALITION GOVERNMENT RETURNS
After a decade, the coalition government has returned to Indian politics, which once again proves that political stalwarts like Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu cannot be dismissed. The two leaders have emerged as powerful kingmakers. The BJP won 282 seats in 2014 and 303 seats in 2019, but this time they couldn't reach the majority on their own, falling short by 32 seats.
IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
In this election, grassroots voters had opinions about both the BJP and the Opposition. Voters, with internet-enabled mobile phones, were scrolling through viral clips, high-quality graphics, and videos on social media.
Notably, India has 520 million Instagram users and 450 million Facebook users. An average voter's voting preference often stems from the political content they consume online. This trend was true not just for 18 million first-time voters and 197.4 million young electorates, but for everyone who was consuming information from various sources throughout the day.
BJP'S MEGA SETBACK IN UP
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP didn't meet its seat expectations. Why?
The ruling party lost Faizabad, a constituency where Ayodhya is situated, signalling a paradigm shift in voters' sentiment.
Even Saket Mishra, son of Ram Temple Trust Chairman Nripendra Mishra, who was contesting on a BJP ticket from Shrawasti, lost to Samajwadi Party candidate Ram Shiromani Verma.
The BJP lost all seats around Ambedkar Nagar, Basti, Barabanki, Amethi and Sultanpur.
Results confirmed that "mandal politics" overtook "kamandal politics". In Faizabad, a significant portion of Pasi community votes went to Samajwadi Party's Awadhesh Prasad, who defeated BJP's Lallu Singh.
Even the Ram Temple couldn't secure a win for the BJP in Ayodhya. Despite chants of 'ghar-ghar bhagwa chhayega' (every house will be draped in saffron), Faizabad's loss marked a farewell to kamandal for the BJP.
THE 'SAMVIDHAN' SAGA
Several boisterous leaders and candidates of the BJP made a dent to the party's prospects with their claims that a 400-seat majority was a must for the party to make the required changes to the Constitution. And by the time BJP started doing damage control, it was too late.
The BJP also suffered for its stance on ending reservations for Muslims.
Meanwhile, the INDIA coalition ensured that "UP ke ladke" -- Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav -- performed well within the Muslim, Yadav, and Dalit communities.
As a result, Akhilesh Yadav's seats rose from 5 to 37 with a 16 per cent hike in the Samajwadi Party's vote share, marking his best performance yet. The BJP lost 29 seats in Uttar Pradesh compared to the previous election and faced a 9 per cent dip in vote share.
Additionally, Mayawati's BSP scored a zilch in the Lok Sabha elections, losing 10 per cent vote share and all seats, which proved to be yet another gain for the INDIA bloc.
ANGER TOWARDS BJP MPs
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had as many as 64 MPs (increased by 2 posts - Azamgarh and Rampur in by-elections). Of the 49 MPs who were given tickets in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 23 won, making up for a clear dip of 53 per cent.
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Ticket distribution in Delhi proved to be the best for the BJP, which re-nominated only one sitting MP, Manoj Tiwari, and replaced the other six. As a result, the saffron party won all seven seats in the capital city.
THE 'KHATAKHAT' PROMISE
Rahul Gandhi's 'khatakhat' (superfast) promise to transfer Rs 1 lakh into the bank account of women if the Congress came to power also seems to have worked in the party's favour.
The Congress leader's catchphrase influenced female voters in several states where the grand old party is in power or has been previously. Notably, states like Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan saw an increase in Congress's seats share.
Published By: Sahil Sinha Published On: Jun 7, 2024
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