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TMC's Shatrughan Sinha wins in West Bengal's Asansol constituency by 59,564 votes in Lok Sabha Election 2024
Trinamool Congress MP and Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha won against BJP's Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia in West Bengal's Asansol constituency
Bollywood actor and Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha won from West Bengal’s Asansol constituency in the Lok Sabha election by 59,564 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website.
Results indicated that Sinha’s closest opponent for the seat was former Union minister and BJP candidate Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia. He has secured 5,46,081 votes.
The BJP had initially announced Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh as its candidate from Asansol. However, he expressed his inability to contest the polls.
Read more: Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 LIVE Updates
In 2019, singer-turned-politician Babul Supriyo was fielded from Asansol by the BJP, and he defeated actress and politician Moon Moon Sen of the TMC. Supriyo had sealed the seat after securing a whopping vote share of 51.16%, while Sen was restricted to 35.19%.
Sinha won the 2022 Asansol bypolls following the resignation of Babul Supriyo, who served as a two-time MP before joining the TMC. He secured the seat after defeating BJP’s Agnimitra Paul with a margin of over 3 lakh votes.
Popularly known as ‘Bihari Babu,’ 77-year-old Sinha entered politics in 1980 by joining the BJP. He made his electoral debut in 1992, contesting against actor Rajesh Khanna in the by-election to the New Delhi constituency. Sinha lost to Khanna, who was the Congress candidate, by 2500 votes.
Read more: West Bengal Election Results LIVE Updates
Sinha was also elected to the Rajya Sabha twice, in 1996 and 2002. He served as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare from 2002 to 2003, followed by Minister for Shipping from 2003 to 2004 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
In 2009, he won the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. He faced actor Shekhar Suman from Congress, who finished third. In 2014, he retained the seat, defeating Congress candidate Kunal Singh.
The BJP dropped him from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and nominated senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib. This decision marked the end of his three decade long association with the party.
Read more: BJP Asansol candidate Pawan Singh withdraws from Lok Sabha race amid controversy
He then ran for the Lok Sabha seat as a Congress candidate but was defeated by Prasad. In 2022, he joined the Trinamool Congress.
Asansol constituency went to polls in the fourth phase on May 13, recording a voter turnout of 69.4%.
The Lok Sabha polls for 543 seats were held in seven phases starting from April 19, with the last phase on June 1. The Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking a rare third term at the Centre with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
