In a major upset for the BJP, 15 union ministers suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Five of these ministers lost in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP displayed a significantly dull performance as per their assembly and 2019 numbers. Moreover, two ministers lost from West Bengal and Kerala, and one each from Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.

Smriti Irani

Union minister for women and child development, Smriti Irani, lost Amethi against Kishori Lal Sharma of the Congress by over 1.67 lakh votes. The shock results were most unexpected since the minister and her campaigners considered Sharma a ‘small fry’.

Ajay Mishra Teni

Union minister of state for home, Ajay Mishra Teni, also lost in Kheri where Utkarsh Varma of the Samajwadi Party had emerged victorious with more than 34,000 votes.

Ajay Mishra hit the headlines in October 2021 when a vehicle allegedly belonging to the union minister mowed down four farmers while they had gathered to protest against the now-repealed farm laws. His son Ashish is the main accused in the case.

Arjun Munda

Union minister for tribal affairs, Arjun Munda, also suffered a striking defeat against Kali Charan Munda of Congress by a staggering 1.49 lakh votes from Jharkhand’s Khunti seat.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, lost to Congress stalwart leader Shashi Tharoor by a margin of more than 16,000 votes from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

Kailash Choudhary

Contesting from Rajasthan’s Barmer, union minister of state of agriculture and farmer’s welfare, Kailash Choudhary, surprisingly finished third, trailing 4.48 lakh votes behind Ummeda Ram Beniwal of Congress, who emerged victorious.

V Muraleedharan

Union minister of state for external affairs and parliamentary affairs, V Muraleedharan, ended up at the third position in Kerala’s Attingal seat, losing to Congress’ Advocate Adoor Prakash.

Kaushal Kishore

Another minister, Kaushal Kishore, who holds the portfolio of housing and urban affairs, also tasted defeat in Mohanlalganj, where RK Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party won by over 70,000 votes.

L Murugan

The minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying, L Murugan, was defeated in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris by DMK’s A Raja by a staggering margin of 2.40 lakh votes.

Sanjeev Balyan

BJP’s Sanjeev Balyan, a union minister, lost the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat of UP against Samajwadi Party’s Harendra Singh Malik by 24,672 votes.

Nisith Pramanik

Union minister of state for home affairs, Nisith Pramanik, lost from West Bengal’s Coochbehar seat against Jagadish Chandra of the Trinamool Congress by 39,250 votes.

RK Singh

Union minister of power, and new and renewable energy, RK Singh, also suffered defeat at the hands of Sudama Prasad of Communist Party of India (ML) from Bihar’s Arrah Lok Sabha constituency.

Raosaheb Danve

The minister of state of railways, coal as well as the ministry mines, Raosaheb Danve, was defeated by Congress’ Kalyan Kale by more than 1 lakh votes from Maharashtra’s Jalna seat.

Mahendra Nath Pandey

In UP’s Chandauli, union minister of heavy industries, Mahendra Nath Pandey lost against Virendra Singh of the Samajwadi Party by over 21,000 votes.

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

Union minister of state for rural development of India, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, was also defeated in Fatehpur in UP, where Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Uttam Patel took a substantial victory by over 33,000 votes.

Arup Chakraborty

Another TMC candidate, Arup Chakraborty, defeated minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar from West Bengal’s Bankura seat by 32,778 votes.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)