From Smriti Irani to Rajeev Chandrasekhar— 13 Union Ministers who lost 2024 Lok Sabha elections

The BJP retained power for a third time in a row, but with a significantly reduced majority on Tuesday as the Election Commission of India (ECI) tallied the Lok Sabha election results 2024. Several prominent politicians—including Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Rajeev Chandrasekhar—failed to win in these recent elections. The saffron party now finds itself reliant on ‘ambitious’ allies as it looks to form the Central government. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council submitted their resignations to President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday ahead of the NDA's bid to form a fresh government. It is also pertinent to note that key members of the outgoing Cabinet are no longer members of the Lok Sabha. 

Several celebrity faces will also attend the Lok Sabha, from first-time MPs like Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil to returning star politicians Hema Malini and Manoj Tiwari.

Union Ministers that lost the Lok Sabha polls

Smriti Irani lost the Amethi seat by a margin of 1,67,196 votes to Congress leader KL Sharma. She had previously defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 elections to secure the Congress bastion. 

ALSO READ: Lok Sabha results 2024: Smriti Irani accepts defeat in Amethi, says ‘completed pending works of 30 years in 5 years but’

Rajeev Chandrasekhar lost the Thiruvananthapuram seat in Kerala by a margin of 16,077 votes. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor retained the constituency for a record fourth term.

ALSO READ: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor beats Rajeev Chandrasekhar, retains Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat: ‘Super over was here’

Ajay Mishra Teni lost to the Samajwadi Party's Utkarsh Verma by over 34,329 votes. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs had previously made headlines in October 2021 after his son was arrested in connection with the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Arjun Munda lost the Khunti Lok Sabha seat to Congress candidate Kalicharan Munda. The Union Tribal Affairs and Agriculture Minister was defeated by a margin of 1,49,675 votes.

BJP leader and Union Minister RK Singh lost to Sudama Prasad of CPIML by a margin of 59,808 votes in Arrah.

ALSO READ: Lok Sabha Election Result 2024: 48 votes decide Mumbai North West; Here's a list of candidates who won by lowest margins

Kailash Choudhary suffered a crushing defeat in the Barmer constituency of Rajasthan. The Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare came in third with a gap of 4.48 lakh votes between him and winning Congress candidate Ummeda Ram Beniwal.

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying L Murugan also faced a landslide loss in the Nilgiris. The BJP leader lost to DMK candidate A Raja by a big margin of 2,40,585 lakh votes in Tamil Nadu.

Nisith Pramanik — the Union minister of state for Home — lost the Cooch Behar seat to TMC candidate Jagadish Chandra Basunia by over 39,000 votes.

Union minister Bhagwanth Khuba was defeated in Bidar by Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre's son Sagar Khandre.

MoS Panchayati Raj Kapil Patil lost to Suresh Gopinath Mhatre of NCP (Sharad Pawar) in the Bhiwandi constituency of Maharashtra.

MoS Railways Raosaheb Danve lost the Jalna seat to Congress leader Kalyan Vaijnath Rao Kale.

Bharati Panwar lost the Dindori seat in Maharashtra to Bhaskar Bhagare of NCP (Sharad Pawar). The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare was defeated by a margin of by 1,13,199 votes. 

MoS Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore was trounced by Samajwadi Party candidate RK Chaudhary.

(With inputs from agencies)