New Delhi: Their mandate to the UPA is clear, but people rejected over half-a-dozen ministers of the Manmohan Singh government while Lalu Prasad escaped their wrath by contesting from two places.
Ram Vilas Paswan, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Renuka Chaudhary, Santosh Mohan Deb, A R Antulay, Shankersinh Vaghela and Naranbgai Rathwa are among those who have been rejected.
Aiyar, Chaudhary, Antulay and Deb are Congress leaders, while Paswan is president of the Lok Janshakti Party.
Paswan, holding portfolios of steel as well as chemicals and fertilisers in the current government, lost his election from Hajipur in Bihar. His party did not win a single seat in the polls.
Another Cabinet minister Lalu Prasad won the election from Saran, but lost from another seat - Bihar's Pataliputra.
Lalu Prasad's RJD also saw some of its leaders biting the dust. Union Ministers Kanti Singh, M A A Fatimi, Mohd Taslimuddin, Jai Prakash Yadav and Akhilesh Prasad are among them.
However, a number of ministers have returned to claim a place in the new government. They include P Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, T R Baalu, S Jaipal Reddy, Praful Patel, Kamal Nath, Meira Kumar, A Raja, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Kapil Sibal.
Other ministers who have won the elections include Subodh Kant Sahay, Vilas Muttemvar, E Ahmed, B K Handique, Kantilal Bhuria and Sriprakash Jaiswal.