A jailed Sikh separatist, a Bollywood actress and an international cricket star have all been elected to serve in India’s next parliament, according to official results published Tuesday.
AFP takes a look at some of the unusual winning and losing candidates in this year’s marathon six-week election:
– Separatist elected from jail –
Firebrand preacher Amritpal Singh, 31, was arrested after a month-long manhunt last year and remains behind bars for advocating a separate Sikh homeland for members of the minority faith.
But on Tuesday he defeated 26 other candidates to win the parliamentary seat of Khadoor Sahib in northwestern Punjab state.
Singh rose to prominence calling for a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, the struggle for which sparked deadly violence in India in the 1980s and 1990s.
He has not been convicted of the charges against him so is still qualified to take office.
But whether he will be allowed out of prison to participate in parliamentary votes will be at his jailers’ discretion.
– Outspoken Bollywood actress –
One of the Indian film industry’s most outspoken celebrities — with a reputation for social media bombast — will represent an idyllic community in the Himalayan foothills.
Kangana Ranaut, 37, has made a name for herself playing fierce and independent female leads in Bollywood films laden with patriotic spirit, including a 19th century Indian freedom fighter and an air force pilot.
Off the silver screen, she has long been an unabashed supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
She once called global pop sensation Rihanna a “porn star” in response to the latter’s social media post supporting protests against the Modi government’s proposed farm laws.
Her Twitter account was once permanently suspended for repeatedly violating hateful conduct and abuse policies, but was reinstated after Tesla founder Elon Musk took over the platform and rebranded it X.
– Rahul Gandhi wins, twice –
Rahul Gandhi of the opposition Congress party is Modi’s main rival and the son, grandson and great-grandson of former Indian prime ministers, going back to independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.
Despite hailing from the country’s most consequential political family, he was humiliated during the last national election in 2019 when he lost re-election for the seat of Amethi.
His defeat in a Congress stronghold represented at different times by his mother and father marked a low point for Gandhi, who Modi has skewered over the years as an out of touch dynast.
Gandhi still managed to return to parliament after the 2019 poll, having contested and won a backup seat in the southern state of Kerala — a strategy allowed under Indian election law.
This year the 53-year-old also contested two seats and won both, meaning a by-election will be held for whichever constituency he turns down.
Modi’s party loses in temple town
Modi in January presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya, built on the grounds of a centuries-old mosque razed by a Hindu mob in 1992.
The ceremony was a landmark moment in the Modi government’s Hindu-nationalist drive as the temple’s construction fulfilled a longstanding demand of Hindu activists.
It was widely celebrated across the country with back-to-back television coverage and street parties, and residents of Ayodhya rejoiced in the prospect of an economic boom from an influx of pilgrims.
But Lallu Singh, the BJP’s two-term member for Faizabad, the constituency that includes the city, was set to lose by more than 50,000 votes to an opposition party candidate.
Cricket-to-politics pipeline
Former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan will become the latest in a long line of South Asian cricketers to make the transition to political office after establishing an unassailable lead in his contest.
Pathan played 79 times for his country and was a member the India squad that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup on home soil, although he did not play in the final.
He was elected in West Bengal for a member party of the alliance opposing Modi.
Cricket’s immense popularity in South Asia puts the sport’s top talents among the region’s biggest celebrities, some of whom have leveraged their fame into political careers.
Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar, who still holds the all-time Test run record, took a seat in parliament in 2012, months before announcing his retirement.
Imran Khan, who led Pakistan during their 1992 World Cup win, had a tumultuous term as prime minister of his country before his ouster in 2022.
