The 17th LokSabha Elections welcomed over 300 new Members in the parliament. With the new members entering the turf, it was quite natural that a lot of old veteran politicians exited the turf. However, quite a few still stood the ground and have made it to the 17th LokSabha. Here are a few of them:
Shashi Tharoor(Congress, Thiruvananthapuram): Defeating BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan with a margin of 99,989 votes, the former UN diplomat managed to manage hattrick from this constituency. When Tharoor was contested from this constituency again, BJP led NDA made sure to send in their best candidate. Rajashekharan had resigned as Mizoram Governor to take the electoral plunge however, Tharoor managed to restore his throne. 63-year-old Tharoor is also an author.
Farooq Abdullah( Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Srinagar): Even in his 80s, Farooq Abdullah refuses to give up as he takes up the parliament for the fourth time. Son of Sheikh Abdullah, the founder of the party and father of Omar Abdullah, the former CM of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq has played an active role in the development of J&K. He has served as the Chief Minister of J&K on several occasions since 1982, and as the union minister for New and Renewable Energy between 2009 and 2014. He defeated JKPDP’s Aga Syed Mohsin with a margin of 70,050 votes.
Sonia Gandhi: (Congress, Rae Bareli) Congress’ Supremo, Sonia Gandhi is the mother of party president, Rahul Gandhi. Coming from the Gandhi lineage, Sonia defeated BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh with a margin of 167178 votes. She has been representing the constituency successfully since 2004.
Meenakshi Lekhi: (BJP, New Delhi) The 52-year-old MP defeated Congress’ Ajay Maken with a margin of 256504 votes. Also, she is the only female MP from the National Capital. She is the national spokesperson of the party and a Supreme Court of India lawyer. Apart from writing articles in journals, periodicals and newspapers on socio-political issues, she participates in various television shows on matters on national and international importance.
Harismat Kaur Badal: (Shiromani Akali Dal, Bathinda): 52-year-old Harismat defeated Congress’ Arminder Singh Raja with a margin of 21,399 votes. She is the Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing in the Government of India[