Who are Lok Sabha’s 7 Independent MPs? Are they with NDA or INDI alliance?

The National Democratic Alliance government formation is in full swing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be sworn in on Sunday at 6 pm after the BJP’s allies in the NDA reiterated their support.

There are reports that the seven Independent MPs elected to the Lok Sabha have thrown their support to the NDA.

But is this true? Who are these Independents? And where do they stand?

Let’s take a closer look:

Vishal Patil

A former Congress leader, Patil is the son of Prakashbapu Patil, a five-term Congress Lok Sabha MP from Sangli and the grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil.

He won the Lok Sabha election from the Sangli seat.

He contested from Sangli as an Independent after the constituency was allotted to the Shiv Sena-UBT in the seat-sharing arrangement among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

Patil has thrown his support behind the Congress.

“It did not become possible to contest on a Congress ticket, but people have voted for me taking into consideration the ideology of Congress. I can’t forget this. Hence after getting elected, I extended my support to Congress. Today, I have sent a letter of support to Mallikarjun Kharge. I met Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi to take their blessings. We will work together,” Patil told reporters.

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Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X:

People of Maharashtra defeated the politics of treachery, arrogance and division.

It is a fitting tribute to our inspiring stalwarts like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar who fought for social justice, equality and freedom.… pic.twitter.com/lOn3uYZIFk

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 6, 2024

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the Congress always had deep roots in Sangli and with this sentiment Patil has extended unconditional support to the party.

“This is a truly fitting move which takes the legacy of Congress stalwart Vasantdada Patil ji forward,” Venugopal said.

With Vishal Patil’s support, the Congress’s strength will go up to 100 in Lok Sabha," Congress MLA Vishwajit Kadam told NDTV.

Amritpal Singh

Singh, the radical preacher, is chief of ‘Waris Punjab De.’

Singh is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA).

Singh won from Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab.

He defeating Congress’ Kulbir Singh Zira by a margin of 1,97,120 votes.

Singh has himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was arrested in Moga’s Rode village on 23 April last year following an over a month-long manhunt.

He and his associates were booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

His father Tarsem Singh on Tuesday thanked the Almighty and expressed gratitude to the ‘sangat’ (community) for their overwhelming support.

“It was the ‘sangat’ which fought this battle,” he told PTI.

Singh’s father had earlier said his son was not willing to fight an electoral contest but he changed his mind at the instance of ‘sangat’.

Singh is unlikely to join the NDA.

However, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (Amritsar) head and Khalistan sympathiser Simranjit Singh Mann extended his party’s support to Singh and did not field any candidate from the Khadoor Sahib seat.

This despite SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal asking people to evaluate if Singh had been “propped up by the central agencies”.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid

Sheikh Abdul Rashid aka Engineer Rashid is currently in Tihar jail under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act charges, according to Economic Times.

The 56-year-old won in the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat by defeating former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

Rashid got 470,000 votes, while Abdullah was far behind at 268,000 votes.

The former MLA. was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2019.

He was the first mainstream politician to be booked under the stringent anti-terror law.

Rashid was first elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from Langate in 2008 and re-elected in 2014.

He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla, finishing in third place.

Rashid is alsos unlikely to join the NDA.

Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav

Ranjan, aka Pappu Yadav, won from Bihar’s Purnea.

The former MP won the seat by a margin of over 23,000 votes.

Yadav merged his Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) with Congress ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

However, Yadav decided to contest the seat as an Independent after the Purnea was given to the RJD for JD(U) turncoat MLA Bima Bharti.

Yadav is expected to support the Congress, as per NDTV.

Mohmad Haneefa

Haneefa is the MP from Ladakh constituency .

He is a former district chief of the National Conference.

According to Hindustan Times, he is the fourth Independent to win from Ladakh.

The seat was previously won by Independents in 1989, 2004 and 2009 general elections.

Haneefa defeated Congress’ Tsering Namgyal in Ladakh.

Haneefa secured 65,303 votes against Namgyal’s 37,397 votes.

The margin between them is 27,906 votes.

The BJP’s Tashi Gyalson, who came third, bagged 31,956 votes.

Sources told Firstpost Haneefa will not join the NDA.

However, it is not yet  confirmed whether Hanaefa will join the INDI alliance.

Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa

Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa is the son of Beant Singh – one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi.

According to Hindustan Times, Khalsa’s grandfather Baba Sucha Singh was a Lok Sabha MP from Bathinda

Khalsa won the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat by defeating the AAP’s Karamjit Singh Anmol by 70,053 votes.

“It is the ‘sangat’ of Faridkot which approached me to fight the polls,” Khalsa said earlier.

During the poll campaigning, Khalsa, who is based in Mohali, raised the issue of the 2015 sacrilege incidents in which the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib was desecrated sparking protests and leading to the death of two anti-sacrilege protesters in Faridkot.

Khalsa also raised the issues of drug menace, river water, farmers’ demand for legal guarantee to minimum support price.

This is not the first time Khalsa fought elections. He had unsuccessfully fought the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Bathinda seat on SAD (Amritsar) ticket and had polled 1.13 lakh votes. He had also unsuccessfully contested the 2007 Punjab assembly polls from Bhadaur seat in Barnala.

Khalsa had again tried his luck in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Fatehgarh Sahib seat on a BSP ticket but lost.

His mother Bimal Kaur was an MP from Ropar seat in 1989.

It is not known who Khalsa will support.

Patel Umeshbhai Babubhai

Babubhai is a social worker, as per Hindustan Times.

He won the Lok Sabha seat from Daman and Diu.

Babubhai caused a stir by defeating BJP heavyweight Lalu Patel.

Patel is a three-time MP from the Union Territory.

Babubhai got 42,523 votes, while Patel received 36,298 votes.

The margin between them is 6,225 votes.

As per New Indian Express, Babubhai heavily criticised Praful Patel, the administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, during the campaign.

It is not known who Babubhai will support.

With inputs from agencies