The BJP won 240 seats, which is 63 fewer seats than the 2019 Lok Sabha election, hitting the strike rate of 54.42%. The Congress, however, bagged 99 seats, which is 47 more seats than its performance in the previous parliamentary polls, nailing the strike rate of 30.18%.
NDA allies such as LJP (Ram Vilas) had a strike rate of 100%, with the party winning all 5 seats it had contested in the Lok Sabha polls from Bihar. The INDIA bloc managed to win 9 seats in the heartland state as compared to just one seat in 2019.
What is a Strike Rate?
The strike rate refers to the share of seats won by a party of the overall seats it contested in an election.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha Election, the BJP had an extraordinary strike rate despite only an overall vote share of 31%. It had won massively in the northern and western regions (bagged 190 of the 225 seats in 10 states in the Hindi belt, which is a strike rate of 85%). The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had a poor strike rate (it did not win a single seat of the 503 seats it contested though it got the third largest vote share of 4.2%).
In the 2019 election, the BJP won 257 seats, with a strike rate of 68.7%. While the Congress’ strike rate in direct contests with the BJP continues to remain low, it increased to 29% from 8.3% in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Congress won 36 seats in the 2014 parliamentary election, with a strike rate of 9.7%. in the 2019 election, it decreased to 8.3%, with just 31 seats in its kitty.
How NDA Allies Performed
TDP: The Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu has won 16 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh of the total 25, while the BJP secured three and Janasena two. TDP’s strike rate in 2024 was 94.12% while Janasena won the two seats it had contested, hitting the strike rate of 100%.
LJP: Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) won all five Lok Sabha seats allotted by the NDA in Bihar, hitting a strike rate of 100%. Chirag not only maintained LJP’s previous track record of 100% strike rate, but also proved that he is the Dalit icon of Bihar. In the 2019 polls, the LJP under Ram Vilas had won all six seats under NDA seat-sharing pact.
JD(U): The Nitish Kumar party won 12 of the 16 Lok Sabha seats it had contested in 2024, hitting a strike rate of 75%. BJP won 12 seats in Bihar. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the JD(U) won all 16 seats it had contested in Bihar.
Other Parties
TMC: The Mamata Banerjee-led party won 29 Lok Sabha seats of the total 42, hitting a strike rate of 60.42%. The TMC made inroads in north Bengal, where the BJP had won all seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The TMC continued its winning streak in south Bengal. The TMC’s vote share climbed from 43.3% to 45.76%, while the BJP’s vote share fell from 40.25% to 38.73%.
SP: The Samajwadi Party won 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. SP’s strike rate was the highest among the bigger parties at 52.11%. The SP has emerged as the single-largest party in UP and the third largest nationally. Its best performance was previously recorded in 2004 with 35 seats in its kitty under Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP increased its vote share to 33.38% compared to 18.11% in 2019. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the SP improved its vote share to 32.1%. Its tally of seats also went up to 111 from 47 in 2017.
Shiv Sena vs Shiv Sena (UBT): Uddhav Thackeray’s faction won nine of the 21 seats it had contested, hitting a strike rate of 42.8%. The Eknath Sinde’s Shiv Sena, however, bagged 7 seats of the 15 Lok Sabha seats it had contested, including his political stronghold Thane, with a strike rate of 46.6%. The BJP and its allies secured a total of 17 seats in Maharashtra. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured 30 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
NCP (Sharad Pawar) vs Ajit Pawar: The NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar won 8 of the 10 seats it had contested, clinching a strike rate of 80%. This was the first test for the party after the split led by Ajit Pawar, who is part of the Mahayuti government. His faction won only 1 of the 4 seats it had contested, hitting a strike rate of 25%. Expert say the split in Shiv Sena and NCP had led to public anger in Maharashtra, which had a direct bearing on the BJP’s tally in the state.
DMK: The party led by MK Stalin won 22 of the total 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, with a strike rate of 56.4%. The Congress won in 9 seats. The remaining 8 seats were won by other parties. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, the alliance had won in 38 constituencies in the state. This is the first time since 1991 that a Dravidian party-led alliance has registered back-to-back landslide victories in the Lok Sabha elections.