Election Result 2024: Congress Won 46% Seats Where Priyanka Gandhi Campaigned

Of the 43 seats, where Priyanka campaigned, the Congress won 20 seats, giving her a success rate of 46.5 percent.

Even as the Narendra Modi-led NDA is set to form the government for a third consecutive term, it is the Congress which stole the thunder with a resounding comeback in many states across India.

In the run up to the elections, the Congress' star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi was seen criss-crossing through the country in order to turn the odds in the party's favour.

According to reports, Priyanka clocked 108 public meetings and roadshows, more than 100 media bytes, one television interview and five print interviews spanning 55 days ahead of Lok Sabha elections. She campaigned in 16 states and one Union Territory, focussing her speeches on targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, countering the BJP's narrative and discussing the Congress manifesto.

On an average, she conducted two rallies/roadshows daily and led a vigorous campaign in Amethi and Rae Bareli -- two crucial seats for the party in Uttar Pradesh.

The Quint dives deep to identify if Priyanka's campaigns translated to a favourable outcome for the Congress on the corresponding seats. We relied on videos uploaded on her YouTube channel as well as newspaper reports to list 46 seats that she campaigned in. Out of these, the Congress won in 20. Here is the state-wise breakup:

Assam, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Delhi

Assam: 

• Dhubri: Campaigned in Dhubri, which is the home turf of AIUDF supremo Badruddin Ajmal. Priyanka held a rally in Gauripur (known for the Mahamaya temple) in support of Rakibul Hussain, one of the tallest minority leaders in the state. Hussain defeated Ajmal by a wide margin of over 10 lakh votes.  

Chhattisgarh:  

• Korba: Addressed a rally with Sachin Pilot and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Congress candidate Jyotsna Mahant won by a margin of over 43,000 votes.  

• Balod: Addressed a rally in Balod, which falls under the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency, with Sachin Pilot and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Congress candidate Biresh Thakur lost to BJP’s Bhojraj Nag by a wafer-thin margin of 1,884 votes.  

• Rajnandgaon: Held a rally here and claimed that the BJP-led Union government “wants to change the Constitution” and curtail the rights of people, particularly marginalised communities. Congress candidate Baghel lost to BJP’s Santosh Pandey by a margin of over 44,000 votes. 

Chandigarh: Priyanka Gandhi had campaigned here on 26 May for Manish Tewari. She had focused her speech on issues related to inflation, unemployment and development in the Union Territory. Tewari defeated BJP’s Sanjay Tandon by a wafer-thin margin of 2,504 votes. 

In Delhi, Priyanka Gandhi was part of the Loktantra Bachao rally, which took place at the Ramlila Maidan on 31 March in the aftermath of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest. It was attended by Sunita Kejriwal and prominent Opposition leaders such as Uddhav Thackeray, Mehbooba Mufti, Tejashwi Yadav among others. The BJP retained all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, but INDIA alliance made significant gains in the vote share. 

Gujarat, Haryana

Gujarat: 

• Banaskantha: Held a public meeting in Lakhani village, where she questioned PM Modi for not contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat. Congress candidate Geniben Thakor won by a margin of over 30,000 votes. She is the Congress' only winner from Gujarat in three Lok Sabha elections.

• Valsad: Priyanka’s first-ever campaign is South Gujarat, where she held a public meeting in Valsad’s Dharampur town and addressed the alleged “lies” propagated by PM Modi during his electioneering. Congress candidate Anantkumar Patel lost to BJP’s Dhaval Patel by a margin of over 2.1 lakh votes. 

Haryana:  

• Panipat: Comes under the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency. Here, Priyanka spoke on the wrestlers’ protest as well as Congress’ promise to abolish the Agnipath scheme. She promised to increase minimum wages for workers and strengthen the MGNREGA job guarantee scheme. Former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar won by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. The BJP had won the seat by 6.5 lakh in 2019.

• Sirsa: Priyanka held a roadshow on 23 May and campaigned for former union minister Kumari Selja, who won by a margin of 2.6 lakh votes. She addressed issues of unemployment and inflation. 

Himachal Pradesh

Although she campaigned extensively in all four seats of Himachal Pradesh, Priyanka’s presence on ground did not translate into a favourable outcome for the Congress as far as parliamentary elections are concerned. However, the party did win four on six Assembly seats in the bypolls, which were necessitated after the 'coup' in February.  

• Kicked off her Himachal campaign from Kangra in support of Anand Sharma. She also held a rally in Chamba. Sharma lost to BJP candidate Rajeev Bhardwaj by 2.5 lakh votes. 

• She campaigned in Kullu, which falls under the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, and attacked the BJP-led government for harming the tourism sector. She also held a roadshow in Mandi in support of Vikramaditya Singh, and a rally in Sunder Nagar. Singh lost to BJP’s Kangana Ranaut by a margin of over 74,000 votes.

• She held a rally in Una and public meetings in Kutlehar and Garet, which come under the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency. She also held a roadshow in Barsar. BJP candidate and union minister Anurag Thakur won the seat by a margin of 1.8 lakh votes.  

• Priyanka also held a rally in Nahan and concluded with a roadshow in Solan, which falls under the Shimla constituency. Here too, Congress candidate Vindo Sultanpuri lost to BJP’s Suresh Kashyap by 91,000 votes. 

• Bypolls: The Congress won in Sujanpur (Hamirpur PC), Kutlehar (Hamirpur PC), Gagret (Hamirpur PC) and Lahaul & Spiti (Mandi PC) but lost in Dharamshala (Kangra PC) and Barsar (Hamirpur PC).  

Jharkhand, Karnataka

Jharkhand: 

•  Ranchi: Priyanka Gandhi led her maiden rally in Ranchi on 22 May, where she was also seen performing a traditional dance with locals. Here, she raised the issue of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren being arrested and targeted PM Modi for “weakening the democracy.” BJP candidate Sanjay Seth defeated Congress’ Yashaswini Sahay by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes. 

लोकरंग ❤️

📍रांची, झारखंड pic.twitter.com/bB1tfiGXMi

— Congress (@INCIndia) May 22, 2024

• Godda: Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana was seen accompanying Priyanka, who focussed her speech on tribal rights. She claimed that in Godda, the Adani Group has set up a mega power plant but “electricity is not available for the poor here." BJP’s Nishikant Dubey defeated Congress candidate Pradeep Yadav by a margin of over one lakh votes.

Karnataka: 

• Bengaluru: Held a rally in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Play Ground in HSR Layout in South Bengaluru on 23 April. She sought votes in favour of Congress candidate and former MLA Sowmya Reddy, who lost to Tejasvi Surya by a margin of 2.7 lakh votes. Her rally in Bengaluru South coincided with that of outgoing Union home minister Amit Shah.  

• Chitradurga: Campaigned for 68-year-old B N Chandrappa, who lost to BJP candidate and former deputy chief minister Govind Karjol (73) by over 48,000 votes. 

• Sedam: Held a rally with Mallikarjun Kharge in Sedam, which falls under the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, in support of Radhakrishna Doddamani, who won by a margin of 2.7 lakh votes. 

• Davanagere: She addressed a rally with Kharge and DK Shivakumar and questioned PM Modi’s silence on allegations of sexual assault on JD(S) candidate Prajjwal Revanna. Congress candidate Prabha Mallikarjun won by a margin of over 26,000 votes.

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Kerala: 

• Wayanad: Held a poll rally in support of Rahul Gandhi, who won by a huge margin of 3.6 lakh votes from here. She had also held a corner meeting for the United Democratic Front (UDF) from Kamblakkad, which falls under Wayanad constituency.

• Pathanamthitta: Held an election rally here and was seen inviting a differently-abled boy from the crowds onto the stage. Congress candidate Anto Antony won by over 66,000 votes. 

• Chalakudy: Campaigned for UDF Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency candidate Benny Behanan, who won by a margin of over 63,000 votes.

Madhya Pradesh: 

• Morena: Addressed a poll rally and launched a frontal attack on PM Modi’s ‘wealth-redistribution’ claim saying, “My father did not inherit wealth, he inherited martyrdom from his mother.” Congress candidate Neetu Sikarwar lost to BJP’s Shivmangal Tomar by a margin of over 52,000 votes. 

Maharashtra: 

• Nandurbar: Trained guns at PM Modi over “hollow promises” and his election rhetoric during a rally on 11 May. Congress candidate Gowaal Padavi won by a margin of nearly 1.6 lakh votes.

• Latur: Held a poll rally in Udgir town of Latur district in support of Dr Shivaji Kalge, who won by a margin of over 61,000 votes.  

Punjab

• Patiala: Priyanka Gandhi held a rally here on 26 May and campaigned for Dr Dharamvira Gandhi. Here, she held a ‘Nari Nyay Sammelan’ or a special rally for women and focused her speech on dispelling wealth redistribution related mistruths that PM Narendra Modi had uttered while electioneering. Congress candidate Dharamvira Gandhi won by a thin margin of over 14,000 votes.

She focused on Punjabiat, trained guns at the BJP but refrained from bringing up former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who was considered close to the Congress until his unceremonious exit in 2021. Patiala is considered to be Singh’s bastion.

• Khanna, which comes under the Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Priyanka addressed the rally on 27 May from the new grain market in Khanna and focused her speech on farm distress and the farmers’ protests that had made national headlines. She did not bring up AAP, an ally in the INDIA bloc but a contender in Punjab. Congress candidate Amar Singh won by a margin of 34,000 votes.

Rajasthan, Telangana

Rajasthan: 

• Jaipur: Held a rally with Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at the Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium on 6 April. It was in this meeting that the Congress manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’ was launched. Congress candidate Pratap Khachariyawas lost by 3.3 lakh votes.

• Jalore: Addressed an election rally in Bhinmal, Jalore Sirohi on 14 April in support of Vaibhav Gehlot, who lost to BJP’s Lumbaram by a margin of over 2 lakh votes.

• Alwar: Held a roadshow for Lalit Yadav in Alwar on 15 April, where former chief minister Ashok Gehlot was also present. Also held a rally where Congress leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot was also present. However, Congress candidate Lalit Yadav lost by 48,000 votes.

• Dausa: Held a public meeting in Bandikui, which comes under Dausa PC, in support of Murari Lal Meena, who won by a margin of over 2.3 lakh votes.  

Telangana:  

• Zahirabad: Held a public meeting in Kamareddy, which comes under Zahirabad Lok Sabha constituency. Congress candidate Suresh Shetkar won by a mrgin of 46,000 votes. 

• Chevella: Public meeting in Tandur, which falls under Chevella Lok Sabha seat. BJP’s Konda Reddy beat Congress candidate Gaddam Reddy by a margin of 1.72 lakh votes. 

• Mahbubnagar: Priyanka held a roadshow in Shadnagar, which falls under Mahbubnagar parliamentary constituency. Congress candidate Challa Reddy lost to BJP’s Aruna DK by a thin margin of 4,500 votes. 

Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh: 

• Rae Bareli: Held a rally in support of Rahul Gandhi and even joined young girls performing a folk dance at a village in Rae Bareli. She even held a joint rally with Akhilesh Yadav and Sonia Gandhi, who had earlier represented the seat. Rahul reclaimed the Congress bastion with a margin of 3.90 lakh votes. 

• Amethi: She connected to the women in the constituency through public meetings and addressed their issues. She campaigned for Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, who defeated union minister Smriti Irani by a margin of over1.6 lakh votes. 

• Varanasi: Priyanka held a roadshow with Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav, who contested and won from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency. Although PM Modi won from the constituency, his victory margin has dwindled from over 4.5 lakh votes in 2019 to 1.5 lakh votes in 2024.  

• Saharanpur: Held a roadshow in Saharanpur in support of Imran Masood, who won by a margin of 64,000 votes. Saharanpur was the only seat the Congress had contested in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. 

• Prayagraj: Priyanka kickstarted the campaign with a 100-km-river journey in Prayagraj, which falls under the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat. She was accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi, party leaders Ajay Kumar Lallu and KL Sharma. Congress candidate Ujjwal Raman Singh won the seat for the party after 40 years with a margin of over 58,000 votes. 

• Gorakhpur: Priyanka Gandhi held a joint rally with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and campaigned in support of the coalition candidate Kajal Nishad and Bansgaon candidate Sadal Prasad. BJP’s Ravi Kishan won the seat by over 1.03 lakh votes.  

Uttarakhand: 

• Priyanka on 13 April had held a rally in Ramnagar, which falls under the Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar constituency, and raked the issue of development while attacking the Modi-led government. BJP’s Ajay Bhatt defeated Congress candidate Prakash Joshi by a margin of over 3.3 lakh votes. 

• In Roorkee, which is under the Haridwar PC, Priyanka spoke on Congress’ promise to give Rs 1 lakh to the eldest women of a family. Congress candidate Virendra Rawat – a poll debutante and son of former chief minister Harish Rawat – lost to Trivendra Singh Rawat of the BJP. Trivendra Singh has also served as the Uttarakhand chief minister between 2017 and 2021. 

(Zainab Khanam contributed to this story)