BJP-Led NDA Loses 54 Seats in Hindi Heartland States in 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

The 9 Hindi heartland states and Delhi have 225 seats. The NDA's tally has reduced from 203 in 2019 to 149 in 2024.

Combined, these nine states and Delhi have 225 seats. In 2019, the BJP won 203 of these. But from 203/226 in 2019, the NDA's numbers in the heartland states reduced to 149, a deficit of 54 seats. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA's (National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP) seats have come down from 353 in 2019 to 293 in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — a deficit of 60 seats.

The big shock in the numbers comes from the Hindi Heartland states. Take a look at these nine states and Delhi.

Combined, these nine states and Delhi have 225 seats in total. In 2019, the NDA won 203 of these. But from 203/225 in 2019, the NDA's numbers in the heartland states have reduced to 149, a deficit of 54 seats. 

Please refer to the table below.

State	Seats	2019	Alliance	2024	Alliance	Net
Bihar	40	39	(17+16+6) BJP,JDU,LJP	29	(12+12+5) BJP, JDU, LJP	-10
Chhattisgarh	11	9	-	10		1
Delhi	7	7	-	7		0
Haryana	10	10	-	5		-5
Himachal	4	4	-	4		0
Jharkhand	14	12	(11+1) BJP, AJSU	9	(8+1) BJP, AJSU	-3
Madhya Pradesh	29	28	-	29		1
Rajasthan	25	25	(24+1) BJP, RLP	14		-11
Uttar Pradesh	80	64	(62+2) BJP, Apna Dal	36	(33+2+1) BJP, RLD, Apna Dal	-28
Uttarakhand	5	5	-	5		0
	225	203		148		-55

In these heartland states and Delhi, the NDA has gained in only two states, maintained the status quo in two, and suffered losses in 6. 

The only two states where NDA (all BJP seats) has gained are Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In Chhattisgarh which has 11 seats, the NDA won 9 in 2019, and 10 in 2024 — a gain of one seat. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh which has 29 seats, the NDA won 28 in 2019, but all 29 in 2019 — another gain of 1 seat.

Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have four and five seats respectively. The NDA (all seats BJP) swept all nine in 2019, and it swept all nine again in 2024. 

Now, the losses.

In Bihar, the NDA (the BJP, the Janata Dal [United] and the Lok Janshakti Party) won 39 seats in 2019. That has been reduced to 29, with the BJP winning 12, the JDU 12, the LJP 5 and the Hindustani Awam Morcha winning one.

In Haryana, the NDA (all BJP seats) won with a clean sweep in 2019, 10/10. Now, its tally has been reduced to five.

In Jharkhand, the NDA (the BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union) won 12 seats in 2019, and that has been reduced to nine, a loss of three seats.

And now, the big losses. 

The second biggest loss for the NDA in the Hindi heartland is also their third biggest loss in the country — from Rajasthan. In 2019, NDA won all 25 seats in the state — the BJP won 24 seats, and its ally at the time, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) won one. Now the RLP has switched to the INDIA bloc and the NDA's seats have come down 24 to 14 - a big loss of 10 seats.

And the biggest loss for the BJP in the Hindi heartland comes from none other than Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 MPs to Parliament. Here, the NDA (the BJP, the RLD, and the Apna Dal) has fallen from 64 to 36 — a loss of 28 seats. This loss they suffered despite the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya less than half a year ago.