BJD best performer in LS polls, BSP the worst

The dreams of Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati to occupy the country's top post appears to have faded with her party faring badly in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.

The BSP, which fielded the highest number of candidates -- 503 -- among all political parties, could win only in 21 constituencies, that too none beyond Uttar Pradesh. This marked a success rate of just 4.17 per cent.

The Lok Janshakti Party, headed by Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, was the worst performer among all parties and it drew a blank. As many as 80 candidates had contested the Lok Sabha polls, and all of them, including Paswan, bit the dust.

Among the Left parties, the Communist Party of India, which is on the verge of losing the status of a national party due to its drubbing in the polls, could win just four seats out of the 81 it had contested, showing a poor success rate of only 7.14 per cent.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by Lalu Prasad yadav, which had contested 44 seats, mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand, could win just four seats -- a sharp fall from the 24 it had held last time. The performance rate of the party is just 9.09 per cent.

The Nationalist Congress Party, whose leader Sharad Pawar was another aspirant for the prime ministership, won only in nine constituencies out of the 65 it had contested. The success rate of the NCP is 13.85 per cent.

The Communist party of India - Marxist, which too suffered badly in its strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala, had fielded candidates in 81 seats, but could win only in 16, showing a success rate of 19.75 per cent.

Janata Dal- Secular, headed by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, tested its popularity in 33 constituencies but won only three, a poor 9.09 per cent success rate.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which won nine seats, had contested in 23 constituencies and its success rate is 39.13 per cent.

Among the best performers, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam topped the list as 18 of the 21 candidates it fielded came out with flying colours. The party boasts of a success rate of 85.71 per cent.

The Biju Janata Dal, which dumped long-time ally Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the polls, too had a remarkable achievement in Orissa with 14 of its 18 candidates entering the portals of the Lok Sabha. The success rate for the party is 77.78 per cent.

The Congress, which won the highest number of seats -- 206 -- had fielded candidates in 440 constituencies across the country but its success rate is just 46.81 per cent. The BJP could win in 116 constituencies out of the 433 it contested, displaying a success rate of only 26.79 per cent.