Lok Sabha elections: Huge drop in vote share, loss of 63 seats… BJP's report card is very poor

BJP lost huge number of seats

In 2024, BJP again got more than 70% votes on 7 seats, but could win only half the seats as compared to 2019, that is, 39 seats with 60% to 70% vote share. The number of seats with 50% to 60% votes also decreased from 140 to 110. Apart from this, the party won 78 seats with 40% to 50% vote share and 5 seats with 30% to 40% vote share. Voting did not take place in Surat, as the BJP candidate was alone. Out of 224 seats with more than 50% votes in 2019, this time BJP was successful in saving 176 seats and lost 45. Of these, 29 seats went to Congress and 8 seats to Samajwadi Party (SP). This time BJP had left 3 seats out of 224 seats for its allies JDU, JDS and Rashtriya Lok Dal and all three won. Of the 176 seats that BJP won in 2019 by getting more than 50% of the votes, this time BJP's vote share decreased in 132 seats and increased by 5% or more in only 12 seats. If we exclude the seats that BJP gave to allies and the Surat seat, where BJP won without any contest, then BJP's average vote share decreased by 5.31% in the remaining 224 seats.

How was the performance of BJP in the states?

In Barmer, Rajasthan, BJP's vote share fell from 59.52% in 2019 to just 17% this time and Congress won the seat. Of the 156 seats that BJP won with more than 50% of the votes this time, only 10 were seats that BJP could not win in 2019, while 5 seats were those that BJP won with less than 50% of the votes in 2019. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP won all 25 seats with more than 50% of the votes, the most seats from any state where BJP got more than 50% of the votes. BJP did the same in 2019. In Gujarat, BJP won 23 out of 26 seats and in Karnataka, 17 out of 28 seats won by getting more than half the votes. In the four other states where BJP won all the seats – Delhi (7), Uttarakhand (5), Himachal Pradesh (4) and Tripura (2), all the victories were achieved by getting more than 50% of the votes. Similarly, in 2019, the BJP won all the seats in Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

How was the report card of India Alliance?

The Bharat Alliance of opposition parties won 68 seats with more than half the votes, but none of them got more than 70% of the votes. 8 seats got between 60% and 70% of the votes, and the remaining 60 seats got between 50% and 60% of the votes. The highest number of seats with more than 50% of the votes came from Tamil Nadu, where the DMK won 8 seats. It was followed by Congress with 2 and CPI(M) with 1 seat. In Maharashtra, the Bharat Alliance won 9 seats with more than half the votes. Congress won 5, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) won 2 seats each. In Rajasthan, Congress won 6 seats with more than half the votes, CPI(M) and Bharat Adivasi Party won 1 seat each. Similarly, the Bharat Alliance won seats in other states as well, including West Bengal (7), Uttar Pradesh (6), Karnataka and Kerala (5-5), Assam, Jharkhand and Telangana (3-3), Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir (2-2), and Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry (1-1). Bharat Alliance parties secured more than 50% of the votes in 68 of the total 233 seats. In 2019, this number was just 54 out of 120 seats, when the Shiv Sena and NCP were together. The Congress secured more than 50% of the votes in 37 of its 99 seats. It was followed by the DMK with 8 seats and the Trinamool Congress with 7 seats.

BJP's performance is poor in these states including UP

BJP's performance has been weak in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. These are the states from where the party won many seats with more than 50% vote share in 2019. Last time, out of the total 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, BJP had won 40 seats, out of which it also got more than half the votes. This time this number has come down to only 13. In Maharashtra, the seats with more than 50% votes decreased from 15 to 5 and in Rajasthan this number decreased from 23 to 12.

How was the performance of BJP's allies?

Apart from BJP, other parties in NDA won a total of 53 seats this time, out of which they got more than 50% votes in 30 seats. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) secured more than 50% vote share in 13 out of 16 seats. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) got more than 50% votes in 4 out of 5 seats won in Bihar. JDU achieved this feat in 3 out of its 12 wins. Among other members of NDA, JD (S), Shiv Sena and Jansena Party got more than 50% votes in two seats each. Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), Hindustan Awami Morcha (Secular), NCP and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) achieved this feat in one seat each.