Numbers Game: How Many Muslim Candidates Won Seats In 2024 Lok Sabha Polls?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form its third government at the Centre in a row, but with a reduced majority. The party won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, falling short of a simple majority by 32 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, nearly doubled its 2019 seat tally, winning 99 seats.

In the Lok Sabha polls, 15 Muslim candidates emerged victorious, including former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who defeated Congress veteran Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Baharampur. Of the 78 Muslim candidates who contested, 15 managed to win.

Some notable winners among Muslim candidates include Imran Masood, who won the Saharanpur seat by a massive margin of 64,542 votes; Iqra Choudhary, who defeated BJP's Pradeep Kumar in Kairana by 69,116 votes; and Afzal Ansari, who won the Ghazipur seat.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi retained his Hyderabad seat by a significant margin of 3,38,087 votes. Independent candidate Mohammad Haneefa won the Ladakh seat by a margin of 27,862 votes, while Abdul Rashid Sheikh won the Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla seat by bagging 4.7 lakh votes.

In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party's Mohibbullah won the Rampur seat by securing 4,81,503 votes, while Zia Ur Rehman won in Sambhal by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes. Mian Altaf Ahmad of the National Conference won in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri seat by 2,81,794 votes against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

In West Bengal's Baharampur seat, first-time contender Yusuf Pathan beat Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha and six-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by 85,022 votes.

The Congress-led INDIA bloc won over 231 seats, while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 295 seats. This will be the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to rely on the support of his allies to form a government.

In contrast, the BJP won 282 and 303 seats in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, respectively. The INDIA bloc is reportedly seeking to reach out to NDA allies to muster support to form a government.