Hard luck for 'turncoats' at the hustings

Jumping parties did not augur well for 'turncoats' as most of the 76 such prominent candidates are facing defeat on their respective seats, according to the Election Commission data.

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who joined Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha election, was trailing by over 2.83 lakh votes from his nearest rival Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar.

In nearby Madhepura, former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who joined the RJD before polls, was lagging by over 3 lakh votes from Dinesh Chandra Yadav of JD(U).

Tariq Anwar, who switched from Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to Congress, lost by over 57,000 votes from Katihar from D C Goswami of JD(U).

Cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad is trailing from Dhanbad by over 3.99 lakh votes. He had joined Congress from BJP.

Son of former Union minister Jaswant Singh, Manvendra, who contested on a Congress ticket from Barmer lost by about 3.23 lakh votes from Kailash Choudhary of BJP.

Meanwhile, Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan Shukla, who had contested on Congress ticket in the last general elections but joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, won Gorakhpur seat with a margin of over 3 lakh votes.

In Karnataka, three political leaders changed affiliations from Congress to BJP, with two of them leading in vote counts. Umesh Yadav defeated senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in Gulbarga, while Y Devendrappa won Bellary.

BJP candidate from Hassan, A Manju failed to taste success and lost by over 1.41 lakh votes from winner Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former prime minister H D Devegowda.

Sujay Vikhe Patil, son of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, had switched to BJP from Congress. He is ahead by over 2.77 lakh votes in Ahmednagar constituency of Maharashtra.

Suresh Dhanorkar, who joined Congress leaving Shiv Sena, is ahead by over 51,000 votes from sitting BJP MP Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in the Chandrapur seat from the state.

In Nanded, Pratap Chikhalikar, a turncoat from Shiv Sena to BJP, is leading against state Congress chief Ashok Chavan by about 40,000 votes.

Baijayant Panda who was expelled from the BJD and is contesting from Kendrapara on BJP ticket is lagging behind by over 1.07 lakh votes.

Former Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi who changed sides from Congress to TDP is trailing by 2.24 lakh votes in Tirupati constituency of Lok Sabha seats.

Among other major turncoats, AAP candidate Dharamvira Gandhi is trailing from Patiala in Punjab.

In Uttar Pradesh, Congress candidate Naseemuddin Siddiqui is trailing from Bijnore, while Savitri Bai Phule lost from Bahraich.

Babu Katara of Congress, who had switched from the BJP, and is contesting from Dahod, is also trailing.

In West Bengal, nearly 10 out of 18 turncoats are staring at defeat as counting draws to a close.

Manas Bhunia, Apurba Sarkar, Kanialal Agarwal-- all former Congress MLAs-- who contested from Midnapore, Baharampur and Raiganj, respectively on TMC tickets are trailing.

Paresh Adhikary and Mafuja Khatun, former MLAs of Forward Bloc and CPI(M), contested on TMC and BJP tickets, respectively. They are trailing in Coochbehar and Jangipur Lok Sabha seats.

Anupam Hazra and Mausam Noor, former MPs of TMC and Congress, fought the polls on BJP and TMC tickets, respectively. They are trailing in Jadavpur and Malda North Lok Sabha seats, respectively.