Election Results: In NDA vs 'INDIA' Contest, 'Non-Aligned' Parties Get Decimated

Non-aligned regional parties lost votes in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as people chose between 'INDIA' and NDA blocs.

(Photo: The Quint)

With the results for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections announced on 4 June 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to form the government with 292 seats. Meanwhile, the opposition 'INDIA' (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc, giving a tough fight to the NDA, managed to secure a total 234 seats.

In what was probably the most bipolar elections in decades, the regional parties part of either 'INDIA' or the NDA benefitted from their respective "waves". But it is the regional parties which went to the polls alone that have seemingly lost ground in their respective home turfs.

From SAD in Punjab, INLD and JJP in Haryana, BSP in UP, AIUDF in Assam and BJD in Odisha to YSRCP, BRS and AIADMK in the South; here's a look at the regional parties that got practically "decimated" these elections.

Chautala Clan Parties Wiped Out

In perhaps one of the most unexpected results from any state, Haryana gave five of its 10 seats to the BJP, and the remaining five to the Congress.

In this '50-50' scenario, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) — the regional parties of the Chautala clan which held prominent influence in the state — have not just lost all 10 seats of the state, but also lost significant vote-share.

INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala, who stood a distant third in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency with a little over 78,000 votes, way behind BJP or AAP that contested as part of the INDIA bloc.

Similarly in Hisar constituency, former Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala’s mother and JJP candidate Naina Chautala stood fifth in the polls by getting over 22,032 votes, just behind her sister-in-law and INLD candidate Sunaina Chautala, who finished fourth with 22,303 votes.

In Manohar Lal Khattar's Karnal, Deepender Hooda's Rohtak, Ambala, Sirsa, Sonipat, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, and Faridabad as well, JJP and INLD were way behind the two main contenders in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

SAD Sidelined in Punjab

In the neighbouring Punjab, while the regional party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has managed to retain its home turf Bathinda — with Parkash Singh Badal's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal winning a third consecutive term as the MP — both its seat share and vote share have significantly gone down.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when the SAD had fought the polls with its then oldest ally BJP, both the parties had won two seats each — SAD won Bathinda and Ferozepur, and BJP won Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur.

The alliance broke up over the farmers' protest against the now-repealed farm laws in 2020. While the BJP won no seats in Punjab this time, SAD managed to bag just Bathinda of the 13 Parliamentary seats in its home state.

But the saffron party has nearly doubled its vote share despite facing protests by the farmers in the rural belts of the agrarian state — from 9.63% in the 2019 polls to 18.56% this time. On the other hand, the SAD’s vote share has plummeted from a significant 27.45% in 2019 to a meagre 13.42% now.

Zero Seats for BSP in UP, Vote Share Down by Half

Another party which has seen a massive decrease in the seat share is the Bahujan Samaj Party, which had 10 seats in the Parliament in the 2019 elections, when it was in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

This time, the party fought alone, and won zero seats. In 2014 also, BSP had won no seats amid the 'Modi wave'.

Its vote share has also nearly halved, from 19.4% in 2019 to 9.4% this time.

Its then-partner Samajwadi Party, which had won only 5 seats in the 2019 polls, has this time won 37 seats as part of the 'INDIA' bloc.

Existential Crisis in the South

While the BJP has made inroads into several states of South India in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — despite a decrease in the overall seats — it is the non-aligned southern regional parties which have perhaps suffered the most in the NDA vs 'INDIA' battle.

The YSRCP (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party), which had swept Andhra Pradesh in the 2019 LS polls by winning 22 out of 25 seats, had won merely 4 seats this time.

Their opponent and NDA ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which had just won 3 seats in 2019 LS polls, has emerged as a 'king-maker' for the NDA this time, by bagging 16 seats in Andhra Pradesh. The party has also won a majority in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Telangana's Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and Tamil Nadu's AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) had won 9 and one seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, respectively. This time, both the parties have won no seats.

The respective vote shares of all these non-aligned parties have also gone down.

BJD Era Comes to an End

Another party which had lost significantly in terms of seat share is Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal in Odisha.

The party, which ruled the state for nearly two decades, has won no seats in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2019 LS polls, BJD had won 12 of the 21 parliamentary constituencies in Odisha.

However, they haven't seen such a significant loss in terms of vote share, which declined from a decent 43.3% in 2019 to 37.5% this time.