In a big upset for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, dubbed a giant slayer after she defeated Rahul Gandhi from the seat in the 2019 elections, lost to Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the Election Commission data, Mr. Sharma won by a margin of over 1,67,000 votes. Ms. Irani received 3,72,032 votes.
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Mr. Sharma hails from Punjab’s Ludhiana. He began his stint with Rajiv Gandhi, managing the Amethi Lok Sabha seat for him. The former PM won this seat four times in 1981, 1984, 1989 and posthumously in 1991. He is said to have played a crucial role in former Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s victory from Amethi in 1999. When she shifted to Rae Bareli leaving the seat for her son in 2004, Mr. Sharma began managing both constituencies.
In the run-up to the 2024 polls, Priyanka Gandhi camped in the family bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi for about two weeks and campaigned extensively for Mr. Sharma and her brother Rahul Gandhi, who contested from Rae Bareli.
The former Congress chief lost Amethi to Ms. Irani in the 2019 elections.
As he looked on course to win the Gandhi family bastion on Tuesday, party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra congratulated Mr. Sharma, saying she was sure from the beginning that he would win. “Kishori bhaiya, I never had any doubts, I was sure from the beginning that you would win. Hearty congratulations to you and my dear brothers and sisters of Amethi!” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held in seven stages, staggered between April 11 and May 19. As per the EC, 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participated in the General Elections in 2024 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha from over 8,000 candidates from more than 700 parties. This is the highest number of candidates since 1996, when a record 13,952 candidates were in the fray. There were 8,039 candidates in the 2019 polls.
As per a PRS report, 327 MPs from the 17th Lok Sabha are contesting again and one MP is contesting from two constituencies. Thirty-four MPs contesting are fighting on a different party’s ticket. This is due to split in the parties like the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Lok Jan Shakti Party. Notably, 53 sitting ministers are contesting elections. Of these, three are currently members of Rajya Sabha, and five others completed their Rajya Sabha term in April 2024.
Published - June 04, 2024 05:34 pm IST
