2024 has been the election year. India along with over 60 more nations went to the polls. Taking centre stage, the much-anticipated Lok Sabha election in April-May and Assembly polls in at least eight States had set a politically charged environment across the nation.
The year also saw the return of the democratic electoral process in Jammu and Kashmir. In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD lost power for the first time in 26 years since the party was formed.
From the weakening of the BJP’s roaring slogan of ‘Abki baar 400 paar’in the 2024 General Elections, which was hailed as a win for democracy, to the saffron party ending on a high note with poll victory in Maharashtra, here’s our roundup of the major elections that took place this year.
2024 Lok Sabha elections
Modi 3.0 was a true coalition government this time, led by veterans of coalition politics, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).
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PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spearheaded the BJP campaign, formed the government in 2024 for a third consecutive term on June 8 but not with a mandate he had hoped for. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority, however met with losses in three Hindi heartland States after an election that was projected as a referendum on PM Modi’s popularity.
The PM Modi-led NDA, which had set a target of winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha, bagged only 286 seats. The BJP won in 240 seats, falling 32 short of the halfway mark of 272 seats in the Lok Sabha in the House of 543, a far cry from the 303 and 282 seats it had won in 2019 and 2014.
Ending a decade of single-party majority, the BJP formed a coalition government with two of its largest allies, N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United).
One of the biggest setbacks for the BJP was its poor performance in the crucial State of Uttar Pradesh. The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party emerged victorious on 37 seats while its partner Congress won in six. In Ayodhya, the saffron party suffered a major shock losing the Faizabad constituency – the home of the Ram temple, which was inaugurated in January eyeing the polls.
Haryana Assembly Elections
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya with Nayab Singh Saini after the latter was unanimously elected as BJP’s legislature party leader in Haryana.
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PTI
Post the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP went into damage control mode. Countering the anti-incumbency factor in Haryana, BJP returned to power for the third consecutive time in the October Assembly elections.
The results came as a huge relief for the BJP and helped it arrest the narrative about the party’s decline, which began after it failed to cross the majority mark in the Lok Sabha. Out of the 90 Assembly constituencies, BJP got a clear majority of 48 seats. The Congress was able to win only 37 seats, resulting in a setback to the party, which has been riddled with ‘internal factionalism’ in the State.
Historic Jammu and Kashmir poll
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party Vice President Omar Abdullah greeted by supporters at his residence, a day after his victory at the J&K Assembly elections, in Srinagar on October 9, 2024.
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Imran Nissar
This election marked the first time in a decade that J&K voters elected a new Assembly; it was also the first Assembly election since the 2019 legislation that struck down Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.
The National Conference-led alliance won a clear mandate in Jammu & Kashmir winning 49 seats in the 90-seat Assembly. For the National Conference, the victory was particularly sweet, considering it came on the back of its leader Omar Abdullah’s shock defeat in the Lok Sabha election. While the BJP failed to open its account in the Kashmir valley, it swept through Jammu, winning 29 seats.
Maharashtra Assembly polls
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis with State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule make jalebis during their Assembly poll victory celebrations outside the party headquarters.
| Photo Credit:
Emmanual Yogini
The Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured a big win in Maharashtra. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra, winning 132 of the 230 seats the ruling Mahayuti alliance triumphed in the 288-member Assembly.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Agadi was completely routed, winning only 46 seats. Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena won the highest number of seats (20), followed by the Congress with 16, and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) with ten seats.
Also read | Maharashtra portfolios: Fadnavis keeps Home, Shinde Urban Development; Ajit gets Finance
Jharkhand Assembly polls
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren with his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren, Congress’ Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir, and others during a press conference as JMM-led INDIA bloc secured victory in the Jharkhand Assembly elections.
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PTI
Along with Maharashtra, Assembly elections also took place in Jharkhand in November, which saw the return of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) president Hemant Soren as Chief Minister.
The JMM-led alliance stormed back to power winning 56 seats in the 81-member Assembly. The JMM coasted to victory in 34 seats, while alliance partners Congress and RJD won in 16 and four constituencies respectively. Within the NDA alliance, BJP won 21 seats, while Ajsu Party, Lok Janshakti Party(Ram Vilas) and JD(U) bagged one each. BJP’s poll plank of driving out “infiltrators” from the Santhal Parganas region fell flat in front of the ‘Adivasi’ card played by the JMM, which also sought sympathy over the arrest of Mr. Soren earlier this year by the ED in a money laundering case.
Odisha Assembly polls
BJD chief Naveen Patnaik handed over his resignation letter to Governor Raghubar Das at the Raj Bhavan. Mr Patnaik had for the first time taken oath as the chief minister of Odisha on March 5, 2000.
| Photo Credit:
Biswaranjan Rout
Five-time chief minister of Odisha and president of the Biju Janata Da (BJD), Naveen Patnaik, was out of power after enjoying an uninterrupted rule of over 24 years. Anti-incumbency, Mr. Patnaik’s overconfidence and overdependence on Tamil Nadu-born former IAS officer and close aide V.K. Pandian, failing to read the saffron surge in the State seemed to have paid off for the BJP.
The saffron party scored big, winning 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly while the BJD could win only 51 seats. BJP’s seat share at 78 was the highest since 1995 and BJD’s the lowest since its first election in 2004. The Congress increased its seat share from nine in 2019 to 14 this year.
Andhra Pradesh elections
Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan felicitated TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu after the NDA alliance came out with flying colours in the general elections.
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Special Arrangement
Telugu Desam Party’s national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time after handing a crushing defeat to Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party in the Assembly election held simultaneously with the general election in the State.
The TDP, now part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), along with the State’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), secured 135 seats. The Pawan Kalyan-led JSP handsomely chipped in by winning 21 seats, while the BJP secured victories in eight seats.
Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Election
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Pema Khandu took oath for the third consecutive term, at the DK State Convention Centre in Itanagar.
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PTI
The BJP returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third consecutive time, with the party securing a majority by winning 46 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The rest 10 seats were won by the saffron party uncontested. Of the 50 seats, the BJP won 36 Assembly seats.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu had won unopposed.
Sikkim Assembly polls
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) supporters celebrated after the party’s victory in the State Assembly elections, in Gangtok.
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ANI
In Sikkim, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) had registered an impressive victory, winning 31 of 32 seats, ousting rival Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF). The SKM had increased its tally to 31, up from 17 in 2019. In March, the BJP had called off its alliance with the SKM describing it as “corrupt”.
On the other hand, the SDF, which ruled the State for 25 years in a row till 2019, won one seat. In 2019, the party had won 15. This follows the trend of the SDF’s decline from 2009 when it won all seats in the State. Since 2014, when the SDF first contested in the elections, the party has unseated the SKM from the Assembly.
Honorable bypoll mentions
Other than the aforementioned elections, Lok Sabha bye-elections were also held for two seats of Kerala’s Wayanad and Maharashtra’s Nanded. The results of the byelections in 48 Assembly seats in 14 States were also declared.
Wayanad Lok Sabha bypolls
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with party President Mallikarjun Kharge following her massive victory in the Wayanad Lok Saha bypoll, in New Delhi.
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PTI
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won Wayanad byelections in Kerala by a landslide margin in her first electoral contest. She defeated CPI’s Satyan Mokeri by a margin of 4,10,931 votes, which is higher than the margin of 3,64,422 votes by which her brother Rahul Gandhi won the seat in the 2024 general elections. The byelection to Wayanad was necessiated after Mr. Gandhi decided to vacate it to retain Raebareli seat, which too he won in the 2024 general elections.
Nanded Lok Sabha bypolls
Similarly in Nanded, the Congress secured victory in the Lok Sabha bypoll seat in Maharashtra with party’s Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan winning by a thin margin of 1,457 votes. In Nanded, the byelection was required after the death of Vasantrao Chavan, the Congress leader and MP who represented it. The party fielded his son Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan from the seat. He defeated BJP’s Santukrao Hambarde.
Assembly bypolls
Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate party candidate Sujoy Hazra’s victory in Medinipur Sadar by-elections, in West Medinipur.
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PTI
Assembly bypolls were held in nine seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Rajasthan, six seats in West Bengal, five seats in Assam, four seats each in Punjab and Bihar, three seats in Karnataka and Kerala, two seats in Madhya Pradesh and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya.
In Bengal, protest over the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata’s state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital and the suspected cover-up initiatives by the hospital and police authorities had pushed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government onto uneasy turfs. Despite that, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had a clean sweep retaining five seats and wresting Madarihat from the BJP.
In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling BJP-led alliance secured its hold with its candidates winning seven out of nine seats.
Published – December 28, 2024 10:35 am IST
