MP re-elects BJP with historic victory in Indore

K K Jha

Indore : Amidst the declining performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in most states across India, Madhya Pradesh has stood solidly behind the BJP, winning all 29 Lok Sabha seats. The victory of BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani from the Indore Lok Sabha seat was particularly significant, as he won with a historic margin of 11,75,092 votes against his nearest rival, Sanjay Solanki of the Bahujan Samaj Party, who secured 51,659 votes.
This is the highest victory margin in the electoral history of India. Lalwani polled a total of 12,26,751 votes, setting a new record for any candidate in Indian electoral history. Indore also created a new record for NOTA (None of the Above) voting, with 218,674 votes polled in favor of NOTA. This is the first time in Indian politics that NOTA has received over 2 lakh votes. The previous record was held by Bihar’s Gopalganj district, where 51,660 votes were cast for NOTA in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The absence of a Congress candidate contributed to this record. Congress’ official nominee from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination at the last moment and left the party, prompting Congress to promote NOTA as their alternative.
Following his record-breaking victory, Shankar Lalwani credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, “Indoreans had already made up their minds that they want Modi once again. They trust the BJP.” Indore has been a BJP stronghold since 1989, with former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan being its most famous representative, holding the seat for eight consecutive terms.

BJP makes clean sweep in MP

Madhya Pradesh maintained its saffron image with the BJP winning all 29 Lok Sabha seats by comfortable margins. In the previous Lok Sabha election, the BJP had won 28 seats, with the Congress party retaining its lone Chhindwara seat. However, in the current elections, the BJP has captured Chhindwara as well, a seat held by senior Congress leader Kamal Nath for decades.
Of these 29 seats, 22 were won by margins of more than 1.25 lakh votes. Eleven seats had margins exceeding 3 lakh votes, with Shankar Lalwani in Indore leading by over 11 lakh votes, followed by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who won from the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 8,21,408 votes.

Key Highlights:
BJP sweeps all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Shankar Lalwani wins Indore seat by a record margin of 11,75,092 votes.
NOTA receives a historic 2,18,674 votes in Indore.
Indore BJP stronghold continues since 1989.
Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan wins the Vidisha seat by 8,21,408 votes.