At least 168 candidates who contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha election flipped political affiliations in search of better prospects. While switching sides may have worked for some, it did not work for many. Here is a look at some of their political fortunes.
One turncoat’s win is another’s loss
Congress leader A.K. Antony’s son Anil Antony was fielded as the Bharatiya Janata Party face from Kerala’s Pathanamthitta. Mr. Anil Antony had tweeted publicly in support of the Prime Minister after a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots presented Mr. Modi in a negative light.
Mr. Anil Antony managed to win 2.34 lakh votes but still lost to Congress candidate Anto Antony who swept the constituency with 3.76 lakh votes giving him a winning margin of over 1.33 lakh votes.
Hanuman Beniwal is a four-time MLA and a founder of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. He had allied with the BJP in 2019 but snapped relations later in opposition to the three farm laws. Mr. Beniwal had made public allegations of corruption against senior BJP leaders. While he had crossed over to the INDIA bloc, he remained vociferous in his criticism of Congress as well. Mr. Beniwal was pitted against the BJP’s Jyoti Mirdha, also a turncoat, in the contest for Rajasthan’s Nagaur constituency. Ms. Mirdha switched allegiance from a family legacy of supporting Congress to roll over to the BJP’s side in September last year.
Ms. Mirdha’s grandfather Nathu Ram Mirdha was a Jat leader and had won the Lok Sabha election six times for the Congress party. Ms. Mirdha was not as fortunate and her 2009 victory was her sole success. After losing twice to the BJP, she quit the Congress and switched sides a few weeks ahead of the 2023 Assembly election.
While flipping parties worked in favour of Mr. Beniwal, things have not gone down well for Ms. Mirdha.
Mr. Beniwal has won 5.96 lakh votes, while Ms. Mirdha garnered only 5.54 lakh votes, and lost by a margin of 42,225 votes.
BJP turncoats unsuccessful
With hopping from the BJP to the TMC, and then back to the BJP, Arjun Singh, the BJP candidate from West Bengal’s Barrackpore, had an unsuccessful contest in the Lok Sabha election. Mr. Singh lost by a margin of 64,000 votes to Trinamool’s Partha Bhowmick, who won over 5.20 lakh votes.
With over 90 criminal cases, including that of cheating and attempted murder, Mr. Singh has made several allegations against the Trinamool and the BJP in the past.
The BJP’s attempt to court multiple political party candidates by wooing to them to join their side has not borne fruit in north east either.
Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh joined politics as a Congress Youth Wing member; in 2008 she joined the United Democratic Party (UDP) after the Congress denied her a ticket in 2008 Assembly election. Ms. Lyngdoh became the first woman MLA of the State from the UDP. She joined came back to the Congress fold, and became State Education Minister. She was expelled from the Congress for supporting the BJP-backed State government. At this point she joined National People’s Party (NPP). The BJP tied with the NPP during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. However, Ms. Lyngdoh lost by a massive margin of 3.84 lakh votes to Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon, who garnered over 5.71 lakh votes as a Voice of the People Party candidate.
Similarly in Nagaland, the BJP bid to court the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party has not borne fruit . Formerly with the Naga People’s Front, Dr. Chumben Murry joined the BJP-supported National Democratic People’s Party. He lost by a margin of over 50,000 votes against the Congress candidate S. Supongmeren Jamir who garnered over four lakh votes.
Turncoat winners
Churu has been a traditional stronghold for the Kaswan family, electing three generations to the Parliament. Rahul Kaswan was shocked when the BJP announced their candidate Devendra Jhajharia, a 2016 Paralympic gold medallist instead of him.
Mr. Kaswan retained his traditional seat by garnering over 7.28 lakh votes while Mr. Jhajharia lost by 72,737 votes.
A former Congressman and a billionaire industrialist of Jindal Steel and Power – Naveen Jindal – successfully contested from Kurukshetra in Haryana on a BJP ticket, to win 54,2175 votes. Up against Mr. Jindal was Aam Aadmi Party’s Suhil Gupta, who lost by a margin of 29,021 votes.
While Mr. Jindal’s career in Congress began in 1991, his first electoral win from Kurukshetra was in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. He lost in the 2014 Lok Sabha election after the CBI began investigating him in an alleged coal scam case.
month
Please support quality journalism.
Please support quality journalism.
