Against the odds: 4 MPs' unlikely wins in India's polls

Of the two women, one is Muslim, the other Dalit, while the two men fought from jail

- Rohini Mohan and Debarshi Dasgupta

India's recently concluded general election surprised many with the lacklustre victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But beyond that obvious headline-grabbing outcome, the election in the world's largest and incredibly diverse democracy sprang many overlooked but nonetheless important narratives.

The Straits Times profiles four candidates who staged stunning wins in this election - two of them fought and won from jail, while the other two are women - to highlight the aspirations of the nearly two million voters who chose them as their representatives in India's 18th Parliament.

1 YOUNG MUSLIM WOMAN FROM RIOT-HIT CONSTITUENCY

London-educated Iqra Hasan will be a rare sight in an Indian Parliament that has few women (74 of 543 seats) and even fewer Muslims (15). The 29-year-old from a political family in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana constituency defeated a tough opponent from the BJP.

The debutante ran for the Samajwadi Party, a member of the Congress-led opposition alliance and now the third-largest party in Parliament. Ms Hasan's is one of the seats where the BJP suffered a shock loss in the northern Indian state that it considered a stronghold, securing only 33 of 80 seats compared with the 62 seats it got in 2019.

Walking through sugarcane fields and villages along with her almost entirely male team, the soft-spoken Ms Hasan - dressed in simple cotton kurtas and with a sheer white scarf draped over her head-cut a compelling figure, said locals.

She won 49 per cent of the votes while her nearest rival, the BJP's Mr Pradeep Chaudhary, a politician, got 43 per cent.

"A Muslim woman has won in a constituency that was once ridden with religious hatred. It happened because voters from across communities - not just the 32 per cent Muslim population - voted for me," said Ms Hasan.