The year 2024 bids adieu, but it witnessed a lot of high octane political activities across India with people voting to elect a new government at the centre as well as in some states. Election plays a crucial role in a democracy as big as India and the electorates voted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to power with Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister of India for the historic third consecutive time.
With his triumph, PM Modi equalled former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s record, who also served three consecutive terms.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP bagged 240 out of 543 seats in the Lower House. The party along with its alliance formed the government winning 293 seats, making it comfortably above the majority mark of 272.
The Congress, meanwhile, secured 99 seats with the Opposition INDIA bloc winning a total of 240 seats.
BJP’s score was not just outstanding at the Centre but it performed exceptionally well in six out of eight state Assembly elections.
Voting on 32-member Sikkim Assembly was held in April, in which Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won 31 seats, while the remaining one seat went into the kitty of ex-chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Front.
After the Sikkim Assembly poll results, Prem Singh Tamang became the Chief Minister of the state.
The 60-seat Arunachal Pradesh Assembly polls were conducted on April 19 and the results were declared on June 2. The BJP posted a record victory, winning 46 seats and Pema Khandu becoming the Chief Minister of the state.
With the conclusion of assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the BJP-led NDA ally, the SKM have returned to power in the two north-eastern states respectively.
The NDA tasted victory in Andhra Pradesh election in June when it bagged 164 of the 175 Assembly seats, polling on which was held on May 13. Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party, a part of alliance, won 133 of 144 seats it contested on, while the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which was in power, managed to get only 11 seats.
The Congress, the CPI and the CPI(M) could open their account in the state polls this time.
TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister of the state.
Voting for the 147-seat Odisha Assembly was held between May 13 to June 1 and the results were declared on June 4. The BJP won 78 seats and the win got all the more historic as the saffron party brought down the 24-year-old rule of BJD and Naveen Patnaik handing over the chief ministerial post to BJP’s Mohan Charan Majhi of the BJP.
In the 2024 Odisha elections, the BJD won 51 seats.
Winning in the Haryana Assembly polls in October, the BJP created history by becoming the first party to retain power in the state for the third consecutive time.
The BJP won 48 of 90 seats in Haryana Assembly House and Nayab Singh Saini was named the Chief Minister.
Congress, meanwhile, bagged 37 seats.
In the much sought after Maharashtra elections, BJP stole the limelight bagging 132 seats.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP won a massive 235 of the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly. Other coalition partners – Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 57 and 41 seats respectively.
Post the election result, Maharashtra saw a role reversal with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, who was the deputy Chief Minister in the previous government, assumed the charge of the Chief Minister, while Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawat joined the Cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister.
In the Maharashtra election 2024, the opposition coalition of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 20, 16 and 10 seats respectively.
Jammu and Kashmir voted on September 18 and October 1 for the first time in 10 years and also after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 which gave it a special status.
The election saw the Opposition INDIA bloc, including the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, the Congress and the CPIM, winning 49 of the 90 seats.
The National Conference (NC) became the single largest party bagging 42 seats, while BJP came second with 29 seats. The Congress managed to win six seats, while the CPIM got just a single seat.
Following the result, NC’s Omar Abdullah became the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Another key election was the Assembly polls in Jharkhand in which the Opposition coalition won 56 of the 81-member House. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha emerged as the biggest party winning 34 seats, Congress bagged 16, RJD won four seats while the CPIML got two seats.In the Jharkhand election 2024, the BJP secured 21 seats.
Hemant Soren became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand after the election results were declared in the state.
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Modi 3.0 and BJP-led NDA’s 6-2 scoreline against Congress-headed INDIA bloc
