New Delhi. Lok Saha Elections Result 2024:  The results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 are quite surprising. This time only six independent candidates have maintained their lead in the Lok Sabha elections, while almost half of the more than 8,000 candidates contested without being affiliated to any party. Among the independent candidates, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has emerged as a big winner. He defeated Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah by a margin of 203273 votes.

Rashid Sheikh is lodged in Tihar Jail in the terror funding case and contested the election as an independent. He was arrested in the year 2019. Rashid was accused by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), marking him as the first mainstream politician to face charges.

Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, contested the election as an independent candidate from Faridkot in Punjab. He is leading by a margin of over 70246 votes over his nearest rival Karamjit Singh Anmol of the Aam Aadmi Party. Singh had earlier contested the elections in 2014 and 2019 but faced defeat.

Meanwhile, in Punjab's Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, hardline Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh is leading over Congress' Kulbir Singh Zira. Amritpal, the head of the 'Waris Punjab De' organisation, who is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, contested the election as an independent.

At the same time, after Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded a candidate in Sangli, Maharashtra, Congress rebel candidate Vishal Prakashbapu Patil contested as an independent and is leading by a margin of more than 100259 votes. He is the grandson of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil.

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Other independent candidates heading for victory include Mohammed Hanifa Jan, who contested from Ladakh after resigning from the National Conference, and Patel Umeshbhai Babubhai from Daman and Diu. Over 8,000 candidates contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, of which 16 per cent were fielded by national parties, six per cent by regional parties, while 47 per cent contested as independents.

Data from the past few years shows that voters' confidence in independent candidates is declining and since 1991, more than 99 percent of independent candidates have forfeited their deposits.

Of the over 8,000 independent candidates who contested in 2019, only four emerged victorious while over 99.6 per cent forfeited their deposits. The four independent candidates who won in 2019 were Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya, Navneet Rana from Amravati, Naba Kumar Sarania, a former ULFA commander-turned-politician who won from Kokrajhar in Assam, and Mohanbhai Sanjibhai Delkar from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

According to the Election Commission, the number of independent candidates has been high since Independence, with the number of those winning elections declining from six per cent in 1951 and eight per cent in 1957 to about 0.11 per cent in 2019.

In the first elections in 1951-52, 533 independent candidates contested and 37 won. In the 1957 election, 42 of the 1,519 independent candidates won. However, in both these elections too, 67 per cent of the independent candidates forfeited their deposits. In 1962, 20 independent candidates won, while more than 78 per cent lost their deposits.

In the 1984 elections, held soon after the death of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, 13 independent candidates won, a success rate of about 0.30 percent, while over 96 percent of the candidates lost their deposits.