Out Of 369 Candidates, 311 Lose Security Deposits In Madhya Pradesh

With the BJP sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, as many as 311 out of the total 369 candidates in the fray lost their security deposits, officials said on Friday.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor today hailed Rahul Gandhi as "the man of the match" of the Lok Sabha polls and said it would only be fitting that he takes on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition in the house.

All in all, the NDA saw losses of 25 seats (on a net basis) in phases where the turnout declined, while it recorded erosion of 35 seats in phases where polling increased.

The Congress, which vastly improved its performance but stopped short of a century in Lok Sabha results announced on Tuesday, has added one more MP to its tally.

Will parties heed the punishment meted out by voters to the politics of "jod-tod" that has marred the Maharashtra landscape for the past two years?

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday took full responsibility for the NCP's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and asserted the defeat in Baramati, viewed as a prestige battle, was surprising.