New Delhi: Among the big names of the Modi Cabinet that did not win the Lok Sabha elections are Union ministers - Smriti Irani, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Ajay Kumar Mishra, Arjun Munda, R K Singh, Nishit Pramanik, Bhagwant Kuba, Mahendranath Pandey and Debashree Chaudhary.
One of the party’s senior most politicians – eight-time MP Maneka Gandhi also lost the elections. Pramanik, who was Minister of State (Home), was one of the party’s youngest ministers.
While several sitting ministers faced defeat, the most crucial loss was that of Irani, who lost in Amethi to Congress’ Kishori Lal Sharma. Considered to be the "giant-killer" who made Rahul Gandhi lose from the seat in 2019 with a margin of 55,000 votes, Irani now lost to Sharma, who is known to be the seat manager of the Congress in the Gandhi pocket borough for four decades.
Sharma won by a margin of 1.67 lakh.
While BJP had criticised Sharma calling him Rahul Gandhi’s "personal assistant", Gandhi dismissed this claim and said that the BJP does not respect individuals. “The BJP does not have manners, Kishori ji is one of our oldest leaders, I congratulate him,” Rahul said.
Another popular leader who lost was Ajay Kumar Mishra by 34,000 votes. His son had allegedly mowed down protesting farmers during the farmers’ protest. Another senior leader that did not make it to the winners' list is Union power minister R K Singh, who lost from Buhar’s Arah by 55,000 votes to CPIML’s Sudama Prasad.
In Kerala, IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar conceded defeat to Congress veteran Shashi Tharoor in what was a keenly-watched wrestle. “We have come very close and have set a record margin and vote share. It is disappointing that I couldn’t win today, but I fought a clean campaign,” Chandrasekhar told PTI. He lost by a little over 16,000 votes.
Tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda, one of the senior hands of the party and a key tribal face, lost Khunti in Jharkhand to Congress’ Kali Charan Munda with a margin of 1.45 lakh votes.
In Karnataka’s Bidar, Union minister of fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba lost to Congress’ Sagar Eashwar Khadre by 1.28 lakh votes. In Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli, Union minister of heavy industries Mahendranath Pandey lost by 21,000 votes to Samajwadi Party’s Bijendra Singh.
In battleground Bengal, two BJP Union ministers lost to the wrestle with Mamata's party. Minister of state for women and child development Debashree Chaudhari lost from Kolkata Dakshin by 1.8 lakh votes to Trinamool Congress’ Mala Roy. In Coochbehar, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports lost to TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia by 39,000 votes.
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