New Delhi, India: Narendra Modi has secured a decisive win in the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive term, defeating Congress candidate Ajay Rai by over 1.5 lakh votes. Ajay Rai, who has now lost each of the last four general elections from Varanasi, initially posed a surprising challenge but ultimately finished far behind Modi. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s Ather Jamal Lari came in third, trailing nearly 5.8 lakh votes behind the Prime Minister.
The BJP has dominated the Varanasi seat, winning it nine times since 1991. The only interruption came in 2004, when Congress’ RK Mishra secured the seat.
Initially, Ajay Rai led Modi by 6,223 votes, sparking brief speculation of a major upset. However, as counting progressed, Modi widened his lead significantly, finishing with over 6.12 lakh votes.
Despite Modi’s personal victory, the BJP’s overall performance in Uttar Pradesh has been less dominant than in previous elections. Since the Modi wave of 2014, the BJP has been a formidable force in the state, winning 61 of 80 seats in 2014 and securing a major victory in the 2017 state assembly elections under Yogi Adityanath.
The 2024 election has deviated from exit poll predictions, which had anticipated a sweeping victory for the BJP with 68 seats. Instead, the INDIA bloc, led by Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, has mounted a significant challenge.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) is set to win 38 seats in Uttar Pradesh, marking a record performance for the party in Lok Sabha elections. The Congress is expected to win seven seats in the state, including reclaiming the Amethi seat from the BJP’s Smriti Irani. However, it will not be Rahul Gandhi who reclaims Amethi; Kishor Lal Sharma will represent the Congress in this significant victory. Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, is poised to win both Rae Bareli and Wayanad by substantial margins.
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has managed to fend off an early BJP surge and is on track to improve on its 2019 performance, where it won 22 out of 42 seats. This result is a major setback for the BJP, which had hoped to build on its previous gains. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, despite internal splits within Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, has performed strongly. The MVA, which includes the Congress, is projected to win 29 out of 48 seats, thwarting the BJP’s aspirations for significant gains in the state.
