Only 13 out of 58 'turncoats' leading, says EC data

Jumping parties did not augur well for 'turncoats' as only 13 of 58 such prominent candidates are leading 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 1.50 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 RJD before polls, was lagging by over 1.30 lakh votes from Dinesh Chandra Yadav of JD(U).

Tariq Anwar, who switched from Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to Congress, is also trailing by over 40,000 votes from Katihar.

Cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad is trailing from Dhanbad by nearly 1.6 lakh votes. He had joined Congress from BJP.

Son of former Union minister Jaswant Singh, Manvendra, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Barmer is also trailing by about 3.12 lakh votes.

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, is leading by over 2.80 lakh from Gorakhpur constituency.

In Karnataka, three political leaders changed affiliations from Congress to BJP, with two of them leading in vote counts. While Umesh Yadav and Y Devendrappa are leading from Gulbarga and Bellary, respectively, BJP candidate from Hassan A Manju is behind by 1.42 lakh votes from 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 2.30 lakh votes in Ahmednagar constituency of Maharashtra.

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

In Nanded, Pratap Chikhlikar, a turncoat from Shiv Sena to BJP, is leading against state Congress chief Ashok Chavan by about 37,000 votes.

Baijayant Panda who was expelled from the BJD and is contesting from Kendrapara on BJP ticket is lagging behind by 40,000 votes.

Former Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi who changed sides from Congress to TDP is trailing by 1.5 lakh votes in Tirupati constituency of Lok Sabha seats.

Among other major turncoats, AAP candidate Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala, Congress candidates Naseemuddin Siddiqui from Bijnore, Savitri Bai Phule from Bahraich and Babu Katara from Dahod, are also trailing.