NEW DELHI — The 2014 Lok Sabha election results have taken a lot of parties and contestants by surprise on Friday. When many did not expect the Modi-led BJP to touch the magic figure of 272 seats, the failure of many prominent regional parties to even open their accounts came as a huge shock. DMK: One of the key UPA allies, the DMK, which had 18 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha failed to get even a single seat in this general election as Jayalalithaa's AIADMK swept the polls in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has been part of almost all the regimes at the Center starting from Deve Gowda's ministry of 1996 barring a brief hiatus during 1998-99 when the AIADMK was part of the BJP-led NDA. The party suffered worst defeats in 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha elections and could not manage to win even a single seat. From 1962 to 1984, the DMK always had representatives in the Lok Sabha though the number varied. BSP: As BJP swept the polls with an unprecedented tally of 70 seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, regional heavyweight and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo failed to inspire voters. Her party, which claims to represent the oppressed class, drew a blank surprising voters and political observers alike. The BSP had 21 MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha. BSP's shocking result put Mayawati and the party in an existential crisis. MNS: Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) flopped badly in the Lok Sabha election. The party had put nine candidates in Maharashtra. Its candidates failed so badly that they couldn't come even close to the winners of their constituencies. Voters rejected Raj Thackeray's ploy to field candidates against the Shiv Sena on one hand and extend support to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. MNS fielded three contenders from Mumbai but none of them won. National Conference: Jammu & Kashmir's ruling National Conference faced a humiliating drubbing in the Lok Sabha election in the state. The NC along with its coalition partner Congress had fielded joint candidates on all the 6 seats in the state. However, none of them were able to win a single seat in the state. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who never lost an election, tasted defeat. In the 15th Lok Sabha, the party had 3 MPs. Farooq Abdullah's son and chief minister Omar Abdullah said the results had "shocked" him, admitting he thought the alliance would do badly, but not this badly. AGP: The Asom Gana Parishad failed to open its account in this general election. The party was represented by 1 MP in the 15th Lok Sabha. Congress decimated The results also gave a big jolt to the Congress. The party did not win a single seat in seven states and it has failed to win more than 10 seats in any state. A chastened Congress accepted defeat. Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Modi who is still the Gujarat chief minister. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh summed up the mood in the country's oldest party by saying: "Our performance is worse than the worst-case scenario." — Agencies
