Actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram in the popular TV serial Ramayan, Dalit rights activist Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ and erstwhile royal Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar are among the 280 first-term members of the Lok Sabha.
Former chief ministers, Rajya Sabha members, entrepreneurs and even an ex-high court judge made their maiden entry into the 543-member Lower House of Parliament in the just concluded general elections.
The first-term Lok Sabha members account for 52 per cent of the total members.
Uttar Pradesh, the largest state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, has 45 first-term members in the Lok Sabha including BJP’s Govil from Meerut seat, Congress’ Kishori Lal Sharma, who defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi, and Azad Samaj Party’s Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ from Nagina seat.
Maharashtra, where the BJP faced electoral reverses, has 33 first-term members, including school teacher Bhaskar Bhagre, who was fielded by NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar from the tribal seat of Dindori. Bhagre defeated BJP leader and Union minister 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 candidate 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) and Charanjit Singh Channi (Jalandhar) are also among the 280 first-term members of the Lok Sabha.