Of the 12 Union ministers who contested from UP, only five, including PM Narendra Modi (Varanasi) and defence minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), managed to save their seats.
Dubbed a “giant slayer” for defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, Union ministerSmriti Irani (women and child development) lost the seat to Gandhi family loyalist Kishori L Sharma by 1.6 lakh votes.Ajay Mishra Teni (MoS, home), whose son allegedly mowed down four farmers in Lakhimpur during the farm laws protest, failed to win a third term, losing by 33,000 votes. Other portfolio-holders failing to retain their seats are MoS for MSME Bhanu Singh Verma, who lost from Jalaun by 51,000 votes; Mahendra Nath Pandey (heavy industries) lost from Chandauli by 14,000; Sanjeev Balyan (MoS, agriculture) lost from Muzaffarnagar by 12,000 votes; Kaushal Kishore (urban development) lost from Mohanlalganj by 84,000 votes and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (MoS, rural development) lost Fatehpur by 35,000 votes.
Ministers who won also saw their margins slide. Modi, who won by 4.8 lakh votes in 2019, defeated Congress state chief Ajay Rai by 1.5 lakh this year. Rajnath’s margin reduced to 70,000 against 3.5 lakh in 2019. Pankaj Chaudhary (MoS, finance) retained Maharajganj with a margin of 35,000 against 3.4 lakh in 2019. Anupriya Patel (MoS, commerce and industry) of NDA ally Apna Dal (S) won with 46,000 votes against 2.3 lakh in 2019. The only mantri who bettered his 2019 margin was SP Singh Baghel (MoS, health), who won Agra with a gap of 2.2 lakh votes.
