The 2024 Lok Sabha election: A mandate for accountability and better checks and balances
Who would've thought that a government coursing through an economy growing at 8.2 percent would have to buckle to an electoral reverse? As capricious as the Indian monsoon, the Indian voter collective has delivered its verdict in Lok Sabha polls 2024, tossing up surprises that have made a laugh riot out of far-off-the-mark exit pollsters. The message: Local livelihood concerns and food inflation are paramount, not communally coded messaging or pan-national issues
Narendra Modi is felicitated by his aides JP Nadda, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah during a celebration at BJP HQ in Delhi. Falling short of BJP's magic mark hasn't denied Modi the big seat, set to take over as Prime Minister for the third time in a row. He will not only have to depend on ambitious allies to form the government but also carefully consider their views before making policy decisions. 
Rahul Gandhi (left) and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party during a joint rally of the INDIA alliance in Kannauj. Gandhi talked the walk—after his two Bharat Jodo Yatras' emphasis on the concerns of ordinary voters—with a national coalition and plumped for big compromises in seat-sharing. This strategy has helped establish the INDIA bloc as a robust opposition this time.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds a kid after Eid-ul-Fitr prayers in Kolkata. 'Didi' Banerjee held her ground as her party, TMC in West Bengal—and Samajwadi Party in UP—were powered to wins by the Muslim vote, in coalition with backward castes and Dalits. 
BJP's biggest victory outside its strongholds is in Odisha, uprooting its unbeatable Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (centre), ending his 24-year reign in Odisha. People, strangely, didn't endorse Naveen's populist measures like cash incentives for farmers, youth and women, nor his attempt to instal VK Pandian (right), a Tamil Nadu-born IAS officer turned BJD politician, as his successor. 
Considered one of the pioneers of IT in India, the tech-savvy administrator and reformer N Chandrababu Naidu has made a dramatic comeback in Andhra Pradesh with his TDP-led alliance. Will his vision of a greenfield world-class capital city for AP in Amaravati come to pass?
Bihar Chief Minister and JDU national president Nitish Kumar's (right) switch-side hitting has been validated by the state's voters. His victorious mandate gives him leverage to push for demands like a special category status for Bihar that will buckle the Centre.
Devotees line up for a darshan of Ram a day after the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Barely four months after the inauguration of the Ram Temple, the Gods have turned, causing the BJP to cede not only the Faizabad seat to SP but also four other seats in the Ayodhya division. 
A candlelight vigil in Imphal was held to honour those who lost their lives in the ethnic clashes in India's Manipur state. In a violence-scarred Manipur, the warring groups, Kukis in the hills and Meiteis in the valley have both voted for the Congress. The state marked a full year since ethnic clashes first began, killing over 200 people and displacing over 50,000. Both groups have widespread resentment against the Centre's and the State's handling of the conflict.
In a closely fought contest in Kerala, the flag bearer of literary solipsism, Shashi Tharoor (centre, with AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on his right), has won over Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the diviner of India's tech and entrepreneurial future, by a slender margin. Thirteen Union ministers have lost in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
However, the BJP scripted history in Kerala by winning its first-ever Lok Sabha seat in the Thrissur district, a victory wrestled by movie star Suresh Gopi (left) from his relentless vote outreach programmes.
Aazad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan projects himself as the new-age Dalit icon. He has won in UP's Nagina by over 1.5 lakh votes, taking a new turn after the meltdown of the Bahujan Samaj party in the past decade.
Jail is no bar for these candidates! Standing independently, jailed pro-Khalistan, Waris Punjab De preacher Amritpal Singh (centre) wins in Khadoor Sahib, Punjab and Awami Ittehad Party leader Engineer Rashid, jailed under UAPA, defeats Omar Abdullah in Baramulla, J&K. As parliamentarians, the duo will have to take the oath, for which they may get parole for a day.
But the 'Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se' campaign hasn't worked with Arvind Kejriwal—jailed in connection with alleged corruption in the awarding of liquor licences—who will have to mull over AAP's failure to win even a single seat in Delhi and its poor showing in Punjab.
The BJP in Madhya Pradesh, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan (left) and CM Mohan Yadav, made a clean sweep of all 29 seats, strengthening its hold over tribal-dominated seats with the help of its welfare outreach schemes. The BJP also played the identity politics card, celebrating tribal icons and renaming important infrastructure and universities after them.
Playing the last sentinel against the saffron surge, the DMK, led by MK Stalin (seen in the poster above held by a party worker), won all the seats in Tamil Nadu. This resulted from the government's careful consideration of caste dynamics and a big welfare push.' The BJP's plan to change the Constitution and its hate campaign failed to cut ice with people,' Stalin was quoted as saying. 
83-year-old Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, dispossessed of his party name and symbol by his nephew Ajit and ridiculed during his campaign, enjoys nothing more than a tough challenge. He staged a comeback with his NCP (SP) party, winning 8 out of the 10 seats they contested, the best strike rate for the party since its formation.
Image: Birbal Sharma/HT via Getty ImagesWomen voters played a significant role in movie star and BJP debutant Kangana Ranaut's win over royal scion Vikramaditya Singh. EC data showed women voters outnumbering men in the booths, rooting for a woman who portrayed herself as 'a daughter of Mandi'. "I look forward to being a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant. Thanks." reads her Instagram post.
