The Lok Sabha election results in Uttar Pradesh dented the Bharatiya Janata Party, which lost 29 seats in the state, bringing down its vote share from an all-time high of 49.98% in 2019 to 41.37%.
The list of candidates who failed to secure their seats for the party includes the names of seven union ministers.
Smriti Irani
The biggest setback for the BJP in the state was losing Amethi, with incumbent MP and union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani defeated by Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma of the Congress by 1,67,196 votes. Sharma’s announcement as the Congress candidate for the seat was seen by many as a walkover for Irani, who emerged as a giant slayer by defeating Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in 2019.
“I express my gratitude to all the BJP party workers and supporters, those who have worked in the service of the constituency and the party with utmost dedication and fidelity. Today, I am grateful to PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that their governments have completed the pending works of 30 years in just 5 years. I congratulate those who win. I will continue to be in the service of the people of Amethi,” Irani wrote on social media site X after the defeat. “To those who stood by me through loss and victory, I am forever grateful. To those celebrating today, congratulations. And to those asking, ‘How’s the josh?’ I say- it’s still high, Sir.”
Ajay Mishra Teni
Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra Teni lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Utkarsh Verma from the Kheri Lok Sabha seat by 34,329 votes. He was running for a third term and aiming for a hat-trick from the same seat.
Teni faced resentment over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which his son was accused of running over and killing several people who were part of a protest against the Centre’s farm laws.
Sanjeev Balyan
Another big upset came from Muzaffarnagar, which saw a clash between the two Jat leaders. SP’s Harendra Malik defeated union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying Sanjeev Balyan in a close contest. Balyan lost by a margin of 24,672 votes.
Sanjeev Balyan previously won the Muzaffarnagar seat in 2014 and 2019. Reacting to the mandate, he wrote on X, “The decision of the people of Muzaffarnagar is accepted. I will be with you in your happiness and sorrow in the future too.”
Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma
Union minister of state for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) Bhanu Pratap Verma lost to SP’s Narayan Das Ahirwar from UP’s Jalaun by 53,898 votes.
The minister polled 4,76,282 votes while Ahirwar got 5,30,180 votes. Verma is a five-time MP from this seat, having won it in 1996, 1998, 2004, 2014, and 2019.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti
Union minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti lost to SP’s Naresh Chandra Uttam Patel by 33,199 votes from UP’s Fatehpur.
She won the same seat in 2014 and 2019 decisively with winning margins crossing 1.8 lakh and 1.9 lakh and was aiming for a third term.
Kaushal Kishore
Samajwadi Party candidate and former Uttar Pradesh minister RK Chaudhary triumphed over union minister of state for housing and urban affairs and BJP candidate Kaushal Kishore in the Mohanlalganj (reserved) parliamentary seat by a margin of 70,292 votes.
According to the Election Commission, Chaudhary secured 6,67,869 votes, while Kishore received 5,97,577 votes. BSP’s Rajesh Kumar, a newcomer who contested the zilla panchayat election in 2015, garnered 88,461 votes.
Kishore, who had previously won the Mohanlalganj seat for the BJP in 2014 and 2019, failed to achieve a hat-trick this time.
The contest was notable as Kaushal Kishore, having held the seat for two terms, faced a strong challenge from RK Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party and India bloc, as well as Rajesh Kumar from the BSP. This election highlighted a significant shift in voter sentiment in the constituency, ending Kishore’s winning streak.
Mahendra Nath Pandey
Samajwadi Party’s Birendra Singh defeated BJP’s Mahendra Nath Pandey, the union minister for heavy industries, in the Chandauli parliamentary constituency by approximately 21,000 votes. Chandauli, which voted in the seventh phase on June 1, has a Scheduled Caste population of 4,46,786 and a Scheduled Tribe population of 41,725, according to the 2011 Census. The voter turnout was notable, reflecting significant electoral engagement.
This victory marks a shift from the 2014 elections, where Mahendra Nath Pandey of the BJP won decisively with 4,14,135 votes (42.23%), demonstrating the party’s strong connection with the electorate. In 2014, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate, Anil Kumar Maurya, secured the runner-up position with 2,57,379 votes (26.25%). Despite a spirited campaign, the BSP fell short, underscoring the BJP’s regional dominance. However, in 2024, the electorate favoured the Samajwadi Party, signalling a change in political dynamics in Chandauli.
These seven were among 11 union ministers the BJP fielded from various Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh. Two UP ministers from the Yogi Adityanath government too faced defeat in the polls. Congress’s Rahul Gandhi defeated Dinesh Pratap Singh, minister (independent charge) of horticulture, agriculture marketing, and agriculture foreign trade, in Raebareli by 3,90,000 votes. SP’s Dimple Yadav trumped Jaiveer Singh, the tourism minister of the UP government, in Mainpuri by 2,21,000 votes.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has emerged as the biggest face in this election in UP, giving his party its greatest triumph so far. He brought the SP to 37 seats from five in 2019. The vote share of the INDIA bloc or SP-Congress combine in the state almost doubled from the last election. The SP got 33% votes while the Congress got 9%. In 2019, the two parties contested the elections separately and got 24% votes (Congress 6% and SP 18%).