Only six independent candidates appeared headed towards victory in the Lok Sabha polls this time, even as almost half of the over 8,000 candidates fought without any party affiliation.

Among independent candidates, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, emerged as a giant slayer, leading against J&K National Conference leader Omar Abdullah with a margin of over 1,86,000 votes.

Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, fought as an independent candidate from Faridkot in Punjab. He was leading against his nearest rival Karamjit Singh Anmol of the Aam Aadmi Party with a margin of over 66,000 votes.

Singh had earlier unsuccessfully contested elections in 2014 and 2019.

Meanwhile, radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh was leading in Punjab's Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat over the Congress's Kulbir Singh Zira. Amritpal, the chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit who is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, fought the elections as an Independent.

In Maharashtra's Sangli, Vishal Prakashbapu Patil, a Congress rebel who fought as an Independent after Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded a candidate from the seat, was leading on the seat with a margin of over 93,000 votes. He is the grandson of former Maharashtra chief minister Vasantdada Patil.

The other Independent candidates heading towards victory were Mohammad Haneefa Jan, who fought from Ladakh after resigning from the National Conference, and Patel Umeshbhai Babubhai from Daman & Diu.

More than 8,000 candidates contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, of which 16 per cent have been fielded by national parties, six per cent by state parties, while 47 per cent fielded as Independents.

Data over the years show voters' trust in independent candidates has been diminishing, and since 1991, over 99 per cent of them have lost their deposits.

In 2019, of more than 8,000 independent candidates contesting polls, only four emerged victorious, while over 99.6 per cent lost their deposits.

The four Independent candidates who won in 2019 were -- Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya, Navnit Rana from Amravati, ex-ULFA commander Naba Kumar Sarania, a former ULFA commander-turned-politician won from Kokrajhar in Assam, and Mohanbhai Sanjibhai Delkar, who won Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Data compiled by the Election Commission of India show that since independence, while the number of Independent candidates has remained high, the number of those winning polls has come down from over six per cent in 1951 and eight per cent in 1957, to around 0.11 per cent in 2019.

In the first elections of 1951-52, 533 Independent candidates had contested, and 37 had won, around 6.90 per cent. In the 1957 election, out of 1,519 Independent candidates, 42 won - around 8.7 per cent. However, even in these two elections, 67 per cent of the independent candidates forfeited their deposits.

In 1962, 20 independent candidates won, around 4.2 per cent of the total, even as over 78 per cent lost their deposits.

In the 1984 polls, held soon after the death of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, 13 independent candidates won, a success rate of around 0.30 per cent, while over 96 percent lost their deposits.

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