BHOPAL, JAIPUR, RAIPUR, GUWAHATI: Dozens of heavyweights in four of the five states that went to polls either lost their seats, or were trailing when reports last came in.
In Mizoram, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla lost both the seats he contested from, while in Madhya Pradesh, as many as 12 ministers — seven Cabinet ministers and five ministers of state — bit the dust or were trailing, with the counting of votes still underway in many seats.
The seven Cabinet ministers who either lost or were trailing included Antar Singh Arya (Sendhwa), Archana Chitnis (Burhanpur), Jaibhan Singh Pavaiya (Gwalior), Umashankar Gupta (Bhopal Dakshin Paschim), Rampal Singh (Silwani), Rustam Singh (Morena) and Omprakash Dhurve (Shahpura).
The ministers of state to taste defeat were Lal Singh Arya (Gohad), Lalita Yadav (Malhara), Sharad Jain (Jabalpur North), Deepak Joshi (Hatpipliya) and Balkrishna Patidar (Khargone).
Many Congress heavyweights, too, were trailing or had been declared defeated. They included the leader of opposition Ajay Singh from his pocket borough Churhat, ex-minister and party’s chief whip in the Assembly Ramniwas Rawat (Vijaypur), sitting MLA from Gurh (Rewa) Sunderlal Tiwari and ex-minister Mukesh Naik from Pawai seat.
In Rajasthan, the ministers who failed to save their seats included Prabhu Lal Saini (Antaa), (Lohawat) and Yunus Khan, who was pitted against state Congress chief Sachin Pilot in Tonk. In Chhattisgarh, eight of the 14 ministers faced the voters’ wrath. They included Prem Prakash Pandey (Bhilai), Rajesh Munat (Raipur-west), Ramsewak Paikra (Pratappur), Amar Agrawal (Bilaspur), Dayaldas Baghel (Navagarh) and Bhaiyalal Rajwade (Baikunthpur).
Only two Mizo ministers win
In Mizoram, only two of the 10 ministers who contested the polls managed to win. CM Lal Thanhawla lost from both Champai South and Serchhip seats and his brother Lal Thanzara, too, was defeated.