PM Modi wins Varanasi for 3rd term, victory margin lowest yet

PM Narendra Modi/ AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the Varanasi seat for the third time, defeating Congress challenger Ajay Rai. This time, Modi's victory margin is 1,52,513 votes, which is much smaller than his wins in the 2019 and 2014 elections.

In 2019, Modi defeated SP's Shalini Yadav by 4,79,505 votes, with Congress' Ajay Rai coming in second place. In 2014, he defeated AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal by a margin of 3,71,784 votes.

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Despite BJP anticipating a record-breaking margin for Modi in this election, the final Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 revealed a slimmer victory.

Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 data shows that in Uttar Pradesh the BJP is leading with 31 seats, while its allies, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Apna Dal, lead with two and one seat, respectively. Notably, this is far lower than the BJP's score from 2019, when it won 62 of 80 seats.

The INDIA alliance performed well, with the Samajwadi Party and Congress winning 38 and 7 seats in Lok Sabha Election Results 2024, respectively.

Following the defeat, Congress candidate Ajay Rai praised the people of Kashi for their support, noting that PM Modi had to work hard despite winning by a margin of 1,50,000 votes.

"Everyone has been campaigning for him and despite that PM Modi was trailing for the last three hours. He had to face difficulty even in winning by a margin of 1,50,000. The people of Kashi have shown that their support is with their brother (me)," Rai told ANI.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossed the majority mark in early leads and is ahead on around 300 seats, while the INDIA bloc, defying all predictions is leading on over 230 seats, stated the ANI report.

According to the agency report, most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite a few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led NDA.

Meanwhile, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang congratulated Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. He also assured that Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) fully supports the NDA.

"Congratulations to the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji and the NDA on their remarkable victory in the 18th Lok Sabha elections. The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) Party fully supports the NDA for the development and prosperity of our country," Tamang stated on X.

SKM won the state's only Lok Sabha seat. Earlier on Sunday, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) won a resounding victory in the Sikkim legislative assembly election. SKM won 31 of the 32 assembly seats in the Himalayan state, leaving the opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) with just one.