Ten Shocking Defeats In Lok Sabha Elections

History of elections in India is as eventful as it is colourful. Given below is a list of the ten most shocking results in the history of Lok Sabha elections. 

1. Ambedkar loses in Bombay City (North)– 1951-52

Ambedkar, the most important man behind the Indian Constitution, the undisputed leader of the Scheduled Castes. He stood for election from Bombay (North) in the first Lok Sabha election in ’51-52 and lost. Not only did he lose, he stood fourth in the race. The seat was taken by Vithal Balkrishna Gandhi of the Congress.

2. Raj Narain defeats Indira Gandhi– 1977

Raj Narain is unarguably the most famour giant-killer, so to speak, in the history of Indian politics, and his defeat of Indira Gandhi is perhaps the most well-known election result in the history of democratic India. As is well known, it was Raj Narain who had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court which eventually led to a situation where the prime minister could not vote in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha.

In the massive anti-Indira wave in 1977, Raj Narain completed his victory over Indira by inflicting an electoral defeat on her after a legal one in 1975.

3. Minoo Masani loses in Rajkot– 1971

Foremost leader of the Swatantra party and one of the strongest voices against the socialism of the times, Minoo Masani had to face defeat in the electoral arena in 1971. He was defeated by over 60, 000 votes by Ghanshyambhai Oza of the Congress.

4. Narasimha Rao loses in 1984

The BJP won only two seats in 1984. In one of those seats, its candidate defeated someone who would go on to be the prime minister in seven year’s time. Narasimha Rao lost the Hanamkonda seat at a time when a deluge of sympathy for the Congress had swept across the country. The seat was won by Chandupatla Janga Reddy. The only other seat the BJP won in this election was Mehsana in Gujarat where its candidate A.K Patel emerged victorious.

5. Somnath Chatterjee loses Jadavpur– 1984

In 1984, the stalwart of the Communist party, Somnath Chatterjee lost in Jadavpur to a leader of the Bengal unit of the Congress– Mamata Banerjee. That would not be the only time Mamata would defeat the Communists in Bengal.

6. Vajpayee loses Gwalior– 1984

Many non-Congress stalwarts were swept away in 1984. This included Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was defeated in Gwalior by a margin of close to two lakh votes by Madhavrao Scindia.

7. CK Jaffer Sharief loses in Bangalore (North)– 2004

Congress stalwart and former Union Railways Minister lost to HT Sangliana, who was contesting only his first election in 2004.

8. Deve Gowda loses in Kanakpura– 2004

Former prime minister Deve Gowda was in a shock in 2004 when Tejashwini See Ramesh of the Congress defeated him in Kanakpura by over a lakh votes.

9. BK Handique loses Jorhat– 2014

6-time MP from the Congress, BK Handique was in for a shock in 2014 when KP Tasa of the BJP defeated him by over a lakh votes.

10. Arun Jaitley defeated in Amritsar– 2014

In an election marked by the Modi wave, it was his close aide, Arun Jaitley, who was the only one amongst the senior leaders of the party to not win a Lok Sabha seat. He lost to former chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh by a margin of over a lakh votes.