Amethi's Voting Trend Takes A New Turn In 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

While every phase of the recent elections in Uttar Pradesh saw a drop in voter turnout compared to 2019, Amethi showed a different trend.

A Slight Increase in Voters and Voting Percentage

Compared to the previous elections, Amethi recorded a small rise in both the total number of voters and the voting percentage.

More Votes in Amethi in 2024 than 2019

As per the Election Commission data on May 25, 2024, Amethi had a 54.34% voter turnout. This means 9,76,053 voters (excluding postal ballots) out of 17,96,098 voted in this high-profile Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Smriti Irani, the BJP MP and candidate, defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by 55,120 votes. The seat had a 54.05% voter turnout then. The total number of electors in Amethi during the 17th Lok Sabha elections was 17,43,515. Of these, 9,42,453 voters participated in the polling. This means 33,600 more votes were cast this time.

A Battle Between Irani and the Gandhi Family in Amethi

Even though Rahul Gandhi did not contest from Amethi again after losing there, Priyanka Gandhi campaigned for Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma. This election can be seen as BJP or Irani versus the Gandhi family.

Smriti Irani Demonstrates Consistent Improvement in Amethi Performance

Before her defeat to Smriti Irani in 2019, Rahul Gandhi had won elections from here for three terms. When the BJP fielded Smriti Irani from here in 2014 to take over from the Congress Gandhi-Nehru family, she lost by 1,07,903 votes.

Smriti Irani Forged a Deep Bond with Amethi in 10 Years

The reason why Smriti Irani managed to establish a lead of more than 1 lakh 63 thousand votes against Congress here is that she became one with Amethi. She built her own house here and also became a voter here.

Congress Kept Its Workers in the Dark till the Last Moment

The difficulty for Congress in Amethi was that while BJP's candidate was already decided, it kept its workers in the dark till the last moment of nomination hoping for Rahul Gandhi's candidature. They had no idea whether Rahul would contest or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or her husband Robert Vadra would get the blessings of being Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law.

BJP Seems Ahead in the Race with Congress in Amethi

Amethi Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma needs no introduction in the area. He is said to have a good hold over his party organization. However, if he had known earlier about his candidature, he might have put in more effort.

But when he received information about his candidature at the last moment and his main opponent had already defeated his leader and forced him to vacate the seat, it would be an exaggeration to say that the fight was on an equal footing. In any case, the voters of Amethi have fulfilled their responsibility. The formal seal on the election results of this seat is set to take place on June 4.