52% of members in the 18th Lok Sabha are first-term MPs
Geeta Kashyap
January 11, 2025
In the 18th Lok Sabha, elections were fought for 543 seats. Out of 543 Wayanad constituency will have by-elections as Rahul won from both the seats, Wayanad and Rai Bareli. The remaining 542 seats have 52% of the candidates who are sitting in the Parliament for the first time, and for 21% of them, this is a second term.
Nine members have been sitting in the Lok Sabha for more than six terms. To be precise, seven are serving for their seventh terms, and two are serving for their eighth terms.
Kodikunnil Suresh, a Congress party candidate and a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), is one of the members representing his constituency, Mavelikkar, Kerala. As published in Hindustan Times, Kodikunnil won his first election in 1989, and till 1999, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from Adoor constituency. He came back to Lok Sabha in 2009 but from a different seat, Mavelikara. Kodikunnil was also the candidate nominated by Congress for the Lok Sabha speaker elections against Om Birla in the current Lok Sabha. In the past, he held many positions, including Union Minister of State, Labour and Employment from 2012-14 and Chairman, Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament. As per the information available on myneta.info, there are 6 pending criminal charges against him.
Another candidate, Dr. Virendra Kumar, a candidate of Bharatiya Janta Party, is also serving his 8th term in the Lok Sabha representing his constituency, Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh. His constituency is also reserved for SC. He is a Cabinet minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Dr. Virendra is a doctorate in Child Labour from Dr Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. His political association started as the convenor of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) from District Sagar in 1977. His political career started in 1982 as the General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He entered into Lok Sabha in 1996 by winning the 11th Lok Sabha elections, and after that, he has not lost any elections and is a member of the current Lok Sabha. He has become the cabinet minister for the first time, although he has held many positions in the past as chairman and member of various committees.
Dr. Virendra Kumar has no criminal charges against him and his has a strong association with Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh. He was also an active participant during the Total revolution movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan. He was also jailed during the emergency for protesting against it and he has participated in many local movements led by BJP.
Table 1: shows the terms corresponding to Number of MPs
First Lok Sabha Terms |
Count of MPs |
|
Single Term |
280 |
|
Two Terms |
115 |
|
Three Terms |
74 |
|
Four Terms |
35 |
|
Five Terms |
19 |
|
Six Terms |
10 |
|
More than six terms |
9 |
Table 2: Details of Member of Parliaments who are serving 7th and 8th term in Lok Sabha
|
Name of Member |
Party Name |
Constituency |
Lok Sabha Terms |
|
Baalu, Shri T R |
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Sriperumbudur |
7th |
|
Choudhary, Shri Pankaj |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Maharajganj |
7th |
|
Jigajinagi, Shri Ramesh Chandappa |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Bijapur(SC) |
7th |
|
Kulaste, Dr. Faggan Singh |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Mandla(ST) |
7th |
|
Kumar, Dr. Virendra |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Tikamgarh(SC) |
8th |
|
Mahtab, Shri Bhartruhari |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Cuttack |
7th |
|
Singh, Shri Radha Mohan |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Purvi Champaran |
7th |
|
Suresh, Shri Kodikunnil |
Indian National Congress |
Mavelikkara(SC) |
8th |
|
Vasava, Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai |
Bharatiya Janata Party |
Bharuch |
7th |
