In 2019 LS elections, postal ballots played key role in deciding winner on 9 seats

The closest contest was witnessed in Machhlishahr seat of eastern Uttar Pradesh where the BJP candidate defeated the BSP nominee by a thin margin of 181 seats. A total of 2,814 postal ballot votes were counted on that seat. The BSP had contested in alliance with the Samajwadi Party in 2019.

In West Bengal’s Arambagh, the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP by a margin of 1,142 votes; a total of 1,549 postal ballots were counted there in 2019.

The BJP retained the Khunti seat in Jharkhand by defeating the Congress candidate by a margin of 1,445 votes. As many as 1,951 postal ballots were counted in Khunti in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Likewise, BJP ally Janata Dal (United) defeated the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Jehanabad seat of Bihar by a margin of 1,751 votes. A total of 5,091 postal ballots were counted there, which was almost three times the victory margin.

In Chamarajanagar seat of Karnataka, the BJP wrested the seat from the Congress, defeating it by 1,817 votes. As many as 2,943 postal ballots were polled in the seat.

In Tamil Nadu’s Chidambaram, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) defeated AIADMK by 3,219 votes and a total of 3,807 postal ballots were counted.

In Odisha, the Congress won the Koraput seat by defeating the BJD candidate by 3,613 votes and the total number of postal ballots polled there was 3,789, slightly higher than the victory margin.

The trend of more postal ballots than win margin was recorded on two seats of Andhra Pradesh—Guntur and Visakhapatnam. In Guntur, the TDP emerged victorious, defeating the YSRCP by a margin of 4,205 votes. A total of 5,264 postal ballots were counted there.

In Visakhapatnam, the YSRCP defeated the TDP by a margin of 4,414 votes and a total of 6,278 postal ballots were polled in the seat.