New Delhi: Former chief ministers, film stars, political activists and a former high court judge figure among the 280 first-term members of the Lok Sabha.
Uttar Pradesh, the largest state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, has 45 first-term members of the lower house, which include actor Arun Govil, who played to role of Lord Ram in tele-series Ramayan, from Meerut parliamentary seat, Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma, who defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi, and Dalit rights activist Chandrashekhar Azad, of the Azad Samaj Party, a member from Nagina seat.
Maharashtra, where the BJP faced electoral reverses, has 33 first-term members of the Lok Sabha, including school teacher Bhaskar Bhagre, who was fielded by NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar from the tribal seat of Dindori. Bhagre defeated BJP leader Bharti Pawar.
Also among first-term members from Maharashtra are BJP’s Piyush Goyal, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai North, Congress leader Balwant Wankhede, who defeated BJP’s Navneet Rana from Amravati, BJP’s Anup Dhotre, the son of former Union minister Sanjay Dhotre, from Akola, and Independent member Vishal Patil from Sangli.
Former chief ministers Narayan Rane (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Trivendra Singh Rawat (Haridwar), Manohar Lal (Karnal), Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura West), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Gaya), Basavraj Bommai (Haveri), Jagdish Shettar (Belgaum), Charanjit Singh Channi (Jalandhar) are among the first-term members of the Lok Sabha.
Suresh Gopi (Thrissur) and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi) are among the film actors who will enter the Lok Sabha for the first time.
Rajya Sabha members Anil Desai (Shiv Sena UBT), Bhupendra Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Parshottam Rupala have also made their maiden entry in the Lok Sabha.
Members of the erstwhile royal families – Chhatrapati Shahu (Kolhapur), Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar (Mysore) and Kriti Devi Debbarman (Tripura East) will be entering the Lok Sabha for the first time.
Former Kolkata High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who won the Talmuk Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, is also a first-time MP.
