Yearender 2024: Top 10 political events in India this year

Yearender 2024: The year 2024 is leaving some landmark incidents behind which will have far-reaching implications on the political landscape in the country. This year, Narendra Modi created history after taking oath as prime minister for a record third time in a row.

Yearender 2024: The stage is set to welcome the new year 2025 as December is heading to bring down the curtain on the year 2024. As the year 2024 is setting in leaving behind a bag of mixed memories, let’s rewind the major events that happened in the political circle. The year 2024 has been very crucial as the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and polls in several key states, including Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir took place this year, which shaped up the political landscape of India and would continue to impact years to come pertaining to politics.

Here we listed top 10 political events in India in 2024

1. Lok Sabha elections 2024: The General Elections 2024, held between April 19 and June 1, 2024 in seven phases, was one of the biggest events of the year. The results of the elections were quite shocking as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failed to achieve the goal - 'Abki Baar, 400 Paar'- set by the ruling coalition. Even though the NDA could not cross 400-mark, it retained power, enabling Narendra Modi to take oath as Prime Minister for the third time in a row. On the other side, the Opposition's INDIA bloc fell to draw political fortune. The Congress managed to improve its tally from 52 seats to 99.
2. Maharashtra Assembly elections: The results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024 were surprising for the political experts as no one had expected that the ruling Mahayuti would receive a mammoth victory, just a few months after the Lok Sabha election debacle in the state. Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections loss, the BJP won 132 seats, and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP bagged 57 seats and 41 seats respectively. Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a huge setback. The grand old party registered one of its worst performances in the state assembly polls after it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) bagged just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) secured 20 seats.
3. Jammu and Kashmir elections: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election 2024 was a landmark as it came after one decade in the absence of special status to the state under Article 370, which was abrogated in 2019. In the election, Omar Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) won 42 seats, making a resounding comeback. While the BJP won 29 seats, Mehbooba Mufit's PDP reduced to 3.
4. Haryana elections: The Bharatiya Janata Party retained power in the state, defying all the poll predictions in which pollsters claimed that there was strong anti-incumbency. BJP's timely change of chief minister - Nayab Singh Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar - and rationale ticket distribution worked in its favour. 
5. Arvind Kejriwal resignation: Arvind Kejriwal, who was adamant not to resign from the post of Delhi Chief Minister, in a surprise move, stepped down on September 17, paving a way for his party colleague Atishi to take over. Kejriwal after coming out from jail on bail in the excise policy scam case, vowed that he would accept the post after the people of Delhi give him a clean chit.
6. Hemant Soren jailed: The year 2024 has been unprecedented for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The new year came with a rude shock for him as he was jailed for an alleged landscape in January. However, he later bounced back. Got bail and fought the election, defeating the Opposition BJP. He returned as chief minister as his party won 34 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly elections 2024.
7. Manipur issue: The ethnic violence issue, which was started after clashes between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo in May 2023, remained unresolved in 2024. This year also witnessed several spells of violence deteriorating the situation in the northeastern state.
8. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's electoral debut: Another member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her electoral debut by winning the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with an impressive 64.99% vote share. 
9. Rahul Gandhi's return to UP: In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi contested from two seats - Wayanad and Rae Bareli. He registered victory in both seats. Gandhi decided to keep the Rae Bareli constituency which was his family bastion. This was a big shift of Gandhi from South to North.
10. Naveen Patnaik’s defeat: Naveen Patnaik has been arguably the tallest politician in Odisha, but the year 2024 came as a big jolt for him. Patnaik received an unexpected debacle at the hands of the BJP. The ruling party was reduced to 51 seats in the Odisha Assembly elections, while the saffron party bagged 78 seats ending Patnaik's 24-year-long rule.