EC to hand over list of winning LS candidates to President Murmu, 280 first-time MPs

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will on Thursday evening hand over the list of candidates who won the Lok Sabha elections to President Droupadi Murmu, sources said Thursday.

Once the list is handed over to the President, the formal process to constitute the 18th Lok Sabha will commence.

Accepting the recommendation of the Union Cabinet, the President had ordered the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to form the government at the Centre for a third consecutive term after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won majority in the just-concluded parliamentary polls.

The NDA has won 293 seats, while the opposition INDIA bloc 234 seats.

After handing over the list to the President, the Commission will pay floral tributes at Raj Ghat.

280 MPs elected for first time

The 18th Lok Sabha will see about 280 MPs who have been elected for the first time, an increase from the 2019 elections when 267 members were first-time MPs.

A total of 263 newly elected MPs have previously served as members of Lok Sabha. Additionally, 16 MPs have been members of Rajya Sabha, and one MP has served seven terms in Lok Sabha, according to think-tank PRS Legislative Research.

Of the re-elected MPs, eight changed their constituency, and one was re-elected from two constituencies.

Nine re-elected MPs represented a different party in the 17th Lok Sabha, while eight others represented a party that split from their earlier party.

Out of the 53 ministers who contested, 35 have won.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the largest party in the new Lok Sabha with 240 seats. The next largest party is the Indian National Congress (INC) with 99 seats, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 37 seats. 

(PTI)