Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: Key takeaways as NDA set to return to power, albeit with reduced majority

Defying all exit poll predictions, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has put up a significantly better performance, crossing the 200-mark comfortably. This has largely been possible due to the stellar performance of local parties, especially the Trinamool Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT).

As the Election Commission continues to announce the Lok Sabha election results, the picture has become clear that the BJP-led NDA will form the next government, but PM Narendra Modi’s proud proclamation of ‘abki baar 400 paar’ has fallen flat on his face.

Defying all exit poll predictions, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has put up a significantly better performance, crossing the 200-mark comfortably (currently leading in 235 seats). This has largely been possible due to the stellar performance of local parties, especially the Trinamool Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT).

BJP has emerged as the single-largest party once again, and are currently leading in 238 seats, having won two already. On the other hand, Congress is leading in 98 seats, which is almost double of the number of seats they managed to win in the 2019 general elections.

Here we take you through the key takeaways from the 2024 Lok Sabha election results:

1. The Trinamool has done surprisingly well in Bengal, especially in the aftermath of the Sandeshkhali incident and a number of scams, including the large-scale school recruitment scam that had shocked the country. 

The Mamata Banerjee-led party is currently leading in 29 seats in West Bengal (out of 42), which is close to their 2014 LS poll results, where they bagged 34 seats despite the strong ‘Modi wave’ across the country.

2. The TDP, which is also sweeping the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, is leading in 16 Lok Sabha seats across the state. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is leading in 12 seats in Bihar.

These two alliance partners will be crucial for the BJP when they look to form the next government. Given Nitish Kumar’s history of switching alliances, it will become a tricky situation for the BJP if he has a change of mind once again.

Time will tell if Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar will become kingmakers this time.

3.  Rahul Gandhi, who lost the Congress stronghold of Amethi to Smriti Irani in the 2019 general elections, has stormed back this time. He had contested from two seats - Wayanad in Kerala and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.

At the time of writing, Gandhi won from Wayanad with a lead of 3,64,422 votes against the CPI’s Annie Raja.

In Raebareli, he is leading with 3,90,030 votes against the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh. With this massive lead, he has managed to surpass the margin with which Sonia Gandhi won this seat in 2019.

4. The results coming in from Maharashtra indicate that the Maha Yuti is being decimated by the Maha Vikas Aghadi. While only BJP from the ruling coalition has managed double-digit seats (leading in three, won 10) in the state, Congress has won one seat and is currently leading in 12 in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) has managed to win two already and is currently ahead in nine seats. NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) has already bagged one seat and is currently ahead in six seats, which takes the MVA’s total count to 30 seats out of the total 48.

5. NOTA has created another record for itself this time around. In Indore, where the Congress candidate had withdrawn himself from the contest, NOTA has garnered more than 2.1 lakh votes, beating the previous record set by Bihar’s Gopalganj with 51,660 votes.

6. Samajwadi Party has emerged as the second-largest party of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, (won 15, leading in 23). While the BJP is giving them a neck-and-neck fight in Uttar Pradesh with 15 wins and leads in 17 seats, Yogi’s image within the party might take a dent after the results.

7. BJP had pinned a lot of hope on the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir to give them an edge in the Lok Sabha polls. However, as it stands now, Awadhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party is leading from Faizabad, the constituency under which the Ram Mandir falls.

8. Delhi has once again showed that it decides differently in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. While AAP holds 61 seats in the 70-seat Delhi Assembly, the BJP is on the verge of sweeping all seven LS seats in the national capital.

9. The BJP, for the first time, has managed to open its account in Kerala. In the southern state, the chief party of the ruling alliance LDF—the CPI(M)—has been reduced to just one seat.

10. Now that the Oppisition is stronger than after the 2019 elections, it will also be difficult for the BJP to pass highly contentious bills like One Nation, One Election and Uniform Civil Code.