Ex-Chief Ministers, Actors Among 280 First-Term MPs In 18th Lok Sabha

Former Chief Ministers, film stars, political activists, and a former High Court judge are among the 280 first-term members of the Lok Sabha.

Uttar Pradesh, the largest state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, elected 45 first-term members to the Lower House, which include actor Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram on TV, from Meerut, Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma, who defeated BJP's Smriti Irani in Amethi, and Dalit rights activist Chandrashekhar Azad of the Azad Samaj Party from Nagina.

Maharashtra, where the BJP faced electoral reverses, elected 33 first-term Lok Sabha members, including school teacher Bhaskar Bhagre, fielded by Sharad Pawar's NCP from the tribal seat of Dindori. He defeated BJP leader Bharti Pawar.

Also among first-term members from Maharashtra are BJP's Piyush Goyal, elected from Mumbai North, Congress leader Balwant Wankhede, who defeated BJP's Navneet Rana in Amravati, BJP's Anup Dhotre, the son of former Union Minister Sanjay Dhotre, from Akola, and Independent member 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), Charanjit Singh Channi (Jalandhar) are among the first-term members of the Lok Sabha.

Suresh Gopi (Thrissur) and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi) are the actors who will enter the Lok Sabha for the first time.

Rajya Sabha members Anil Desai (Shiv Sena UBT), Bhupendra Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya, and Parshottam Rupala have also made their maiden entry into the Lok Sabha.

Members of the erstwhile royal families - Chhatrapati Shahu (Kolhapur), Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar (Mysore), and Kriti Devi Debbarman (Tripura East) - will enter Parliament for the first time.

Former Kolkata High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who won the Talmuk Lok Sabha seat in Bengal, is also a first-time MP.

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