Raje, Gehlot, Baghel and more… The big winners and losers of the legislative elections – Firstpost

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in a celebratory mood. The party registered huge victories in the Hindi heartland of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The results also give a boost to the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

On the other hand, the Congress can take solace in its victory in the state of Telangana, toppling the current regime of K Chandrasekhar Rao.

As the celebrations continue, here’s a look at how some of the biggest names in the fray fared.

MADHYA PRADESH

Shivraj Singh Chouhan

The current BJP chief minister won the Budhni seat for the sixth time by defeating actor-turned-Congress politician Vikram Mastal by a margin of 1,04,974 votes.

Chouhan, the longest-serving MP CM, first won the Budhni Assembly seat in 1990, before winning a bypoll in 2006 and retaining the seat in 2008, 2013 and 2018. Fondly called ‘Mama » by her supporters, Chouhan was not projected as the face of the party this time.

He and several BJP leaders have regularly claimed that his ‘Ladli Behana Yojana’, under which eligible women get Rs 1,250 per month, is a game-changer.

Kamal Nat

His party may not have achieved the desired results in the state, but Kamal Nath won the Chhindwara seat. The Congress veteran registered a victory with a margin of over 35,000 votes against his closest competitor, BJP’s Vivek Bunty Sahu.

The 76-year-old holds the record for continuous elections as an MP from Chhindwara since 1980 and he became the state’s chief minister for the first time in 2019, but for only 15 months.

Narendra Singh Tomar

The BJP’s gamble to field Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar from the Dimani Assembly seat has paid off. The minister won against BSP’s Balveer Singh Dandotiya with a margin of 24,461 votes.

Dimani is also part of the parliamentary constituency of Morena, currently held by Tomar.

Narottam Mishra

Narottam Mishra, the state’s home minister, contesting from his Datia seat, lost to Congress leader Rajendra Bharti.

In the past, Mishra won in this seat. In 2013, he won the Datia seat by defeating Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti by a margin of 12,081 votes. In 2018, he won the seat again by defeating Congress candidate Rajendra Bharti by a margin of 2,656 votes.

Kailash Vijayvargiya

The BJP national general secretary claimed victory in Indore-1 constituency where he faced Congress candidate Sanjay Shukla.

In the previous elections, Shukla had won against BJP candidate Arya Sudarshan Gupta with a margin of 8,163 votes.

RAJASTHAN

Vasundhara Raje

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje won from Jhalrapatan assembly constituency in Rajasthan. She repeated her victory from her seat, a feat she has achieved since 2003.

The data revealed that Raje won the Jhalrapatan seat with a margin of 53,193 votes. The BJP leader secured a total of 1,38,831 votes.

Ashok Gehlot

The state chief minister, from Sardarpura Assembly constituency, won his seat with a margin of over 26,000 votes. In the fray with Ashok Gehlot were ASP(K)’s Shaitan Singh, IPGP’s Suraiya Begam and BJP’s Prof Dr Mahendra Rathore, along with a host of independent candidates.

Rajyavardhan Rathore

Former Union minister Rathore proved his mettle by winning the Jhhotwara seat.

Rathore, a former Union minister, polled 1,47,913 votes and defeated his nearest rival Abhishek Choudhary of the Congress.

BJP rebel Ashu Singh Surpura, who contested as an independent candidate, came third with 55,159 votes.

Pilot Sachin

Former deputy chief minister of the state Sachin Pilot registered a victory in his Tonk constituency against BJP’s Ajit Singh Mehta.

Pilot is seen as the “son of the soil” in his Assembly constituency.

CP Joshi

A Congress veteran and Rajasthan Assembly Speaker, Joshi lost from the Nathdwara constituency. BJP’s Vishwaraj Singh Mewar won the Assembly seat with a margin of 7,504 votes.

Kirodi Lal Meena

Meena, a famous face of the state BJP, emerged triumphant from the Sawai Madhopur constituency. Since 1998, Sawai Madhopur has elected Congress and BJP legislators interchangeably. Meena had previously won the seat in 2003.

TELANGANA

K Chandrashekar Rao

KCR contested this year’s elections from two seats – Gajwel and Kamareddy. While his party is doomed to defeat, he managed to retain the Gajwel seat against his closest rival, Eatala Rajendar of the BJP.

In Kamareddy, he lost to BJP’s KV Ramana Reddy, now nicknamed the ‘Giant Slayer’.

KT Rama Rao

KCR’s son, KT Rama Rao contested this year’s elections from Sircilla, which he won. In the previous assembly elections, he emerged victorious with a tally of 1,25,213 votes and a margin of 89,009 votes. He had defeated Kondam Karuna Mahender Reddy of the Indian National Congress.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar

The fiery BJP leader lost to Karimnagar. He was facing Gangula Kamalakar of the BRS and Purumalla Srinivas of the Congress. This was the third time that the BJP leader faced Kamalakar.

Revanth Reddy

Revanth Reddy, the Telangana Congress unit president is known for his connected people. Reddy, considered the architect of the Congress victory in the state, also won his individual seat in Kodangal.

Akbaruddin Owaisi

Akbaruddin Owaisi, the youngest of the Owaisi brothers representing the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party, contested from the Chandrayangutta seat and won.

With a victory from the seat, he repeated his performance. In 2018, he won by defeating BJP candidate Shahejadi Sayyad by a margin of 80,263 votes.

CHHATTISGARH

Bhupesh Baghel

Bhupesh Baghel of Congress won from Patan seat. The seat was witnessing a triangular contest with the BJP fielding the chief minister’s estranged nephew and Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel. Amit Jogi, state president of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and son of late former CM Ajit Jogi, was also in the fray from Patan.

TS Singh Deo

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo of the Congress party lost his seat in Ambikapur, a tribal-dominated seat in Surguja district of north Chhattisgarh. Deo had been a consistent winner from that seat.

Earlier, he won the seat by defeating BJP candidate Anurag Singh Deo by a margin of 39,624 votes.

Raman Singh

BJP’s Raman Singh, former chief minister of the state, won in Rajnandgaon against Congress’ Girish Dewangan.

Rajnandgaon constituency is considered as Dr. Raman Singh’s territory as he was elected from the constituency for three consecutive terms. In the 2018 Chhattisgarh elections, the BJP leader won the constituency after securing 80,589 votes and a voting percentage of 51.7 percent.

Amit Jogi

Amit Jogi, the son of Chhattisgarh’s first chief minister Ajit Jogi, lost to Bhupesh Baghel from Patan constituency.

With the contribution of agencies