Election Results 2024, Lok Sabha Election Result Highlights: NDA leaders unanimously elect Modi as alliance leader, to stake claim to form government

Counting of postal ballots so far shows the NDA taking a huge lead over the INDIA bloc. As per TV reports based on preliminary trends, NDA is ahead in 155 seats while the INDIA bloc is leading in 69 seats.

The BJP has taken a lead in over 100 seats in very early trends. As per TV reports, the INDIA bloc is ahead in 40 seats.

Very early trends show the BJP taking an early lead in the Lok Sabha elections. According to Times Now, the NDA is leading in 45 seats while the INDIA bloc is ahead in 15 seats and Others on 5. Health warning – these are very early numbers and the trends will be available only after the counting of EVM votes begins.

The counting of votes has begun across 542 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The first trends should start to emerge shortly after the counting of ballot paper votes. The EVM votes will be counted after the counting of ballot paper votes concludes.

The Lok Sabha election results today will decide if Narendra Modi can equal Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s record of serving as Prime Minister for three consecutive terms. For the Congress, it is a battle of survival for the Congress desperate for a comeback after two back-to-back defeats.

The battle of narratives between the BJP and the Congress will reach its logical end today as the Lok Sabha election results 2024 are announced. While the NDA has claimed it will breach the 400-mark in this election, the Congress claims all predictions will fall flat and the INDIA bloc will form a government at the Centre.

Psephologists are divided over the exit poll predictions predicting a clear win for the BJP. While Yogendra Yadav has predicted less than 272 seats — which is also the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha — for the BJP, poll strategist Prashant Kishor has claimed that the BJP will repeat its 2019 performance and win 303 seats or more this time.

The continuity in government has been seen as a sign of policy continuity and most brokerages see the return of the Narendra Modi government as a positive sign. Markets peaked fresh highs on Monday, the first day of trading after the Exit Poll results showed a favorable outcome for Modi’s BJP. How will markets react today? Will there be a round of profit-booking? Is it an opportunity to buy the dips? Catch our Stock Market Live coverage here.

Uttar Pradesh is set to be a big test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Hindi heartland. The BJP has hoped that the Ram Mandir inauguration would help it tide over any resentment or anti-incumbency. Exit polls have predicted some gains for the party. You can catch all LIVE UPDATES from Uttar Pradesh Election Results 2024 here.

The counting of votes will begin at 8 AM under tight security. The counting of postal ballots will begin first which will be followed by the counting of EVM votes. It will take a while for the first trends to emerge. The final outcome will only be clear once the results for all constituencies are declared by the poll panel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned a note to the nation ahead of the Lok Sabha election results on Tuesday and said that his three-day meditation at Kanyakumari was a humbling experience and that he feels a boundless flow of energy within him. The multitude of faces seen at rallies and road shows came in front of my eyes. The blessings from our Nari Shakti (women power)…the trust, the affection, all of this was a very humbling experience. My eyes were getting moist…I entered into a sadhana (meditative state). And then, the heated political debates, the attacks and counterattacks, the voices and words of accusations which are so characteristic of an election…they all vanished into a void,” PM Modi’s letter read.

The counting of votes will begin at 8 AM today. Both NDA and the Congress-led INDIA bloc maintain confidence of winning the elections and forming a government at the Centre.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the party is hopeful that the election results will be the opposite of what the exit polls have predicted. “We have to wait and see. Just wait and see,” Gandhi told reporters when quizzed about the exit poll projections. Rahul Gandhi had earlier termed the exit polls as “Modi Media poll” and claimed that the INDIA alliance would win 295 seats and form a government.

Most brokerages are bullish on the prospect of the BJP returning to power with a clear majority. They see the continuity in government as a sign of continuity in policy and have expressed optimism of a strong government pulling in higher foreign investments. The brokerages also see the BJP government at the Centre sustaining its push for manufacturing and keeping the eoconmy on the right track.

Exit Polls are barely projections based on surveys on a certain sample size and are thus only seen as an indication at best of which way an election verdict could go. Exit polls have got it wrong on multiple occasions in the past. Ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha election results, the exit polls had unanimously predicted a clear win for the NDA. However, the results turned out to be otherwise. In the last two elections though, the NDA’s tally has been higher than what tyhe exit polls have predicted.

Markets closed at record highs on Monday with the BSE Sensex closing over 2,500 points higher while the 50-stock Nifty saw its biggest single-day gain in four years. The cheer in markets was seen as an impact of the exit polls predicting a clear majority for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Adani Group stocks surged 18.5 per cent during the day. Its market cap reached the levels before the Hindenburg controversy sent it on a downward spiral.

The challenge for the Congress in case of a loss, as predicted by exit polls, would be in keeping the alliance of 23 Opposition parties intact. The COngress hopes to keep the alliance running at least till the conduct of Assembly elections in Maharashtra and other states in the coming 1-2 years.

The exit polls have shown the BJP losing a few seats in Rajasthan and Haryana – states it swept in the 2014 and 2019 elections. The reason could be the simmering anger against the BJP among Jats and Rajputs over its handling of a host of issues.

The exit polls have shown the BJP making significant inroads into the southern and eastern states of India. Exit polls have shown the BJP adding to its tally in West Bengal and Odisha and is expected to open its account in Kerala and Tamil Nadu – states it drew a blank in 2019. Experts believe that the minor losses projected in northern and central India can easily be covered by the gains BJP is seen making in the southern and eastern regions of the country.

Several retired jurists have expressed concerns over the manner in which the general elections were conducted by the ECI. In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, the judges pointed to the ECI’s refusal to disclose the exact numbers of votes cast in each booth of every constituency, its refusal to make Form 17(c) of the Conduct of Election Rules and minimal action taken against the hate speeches by leaders of the ruling and Opposition parties. The signatories to the letter included Former judges of the Madras high including Justices G M Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan, D Hariparanthaman, PR Sivakumar, S VImala and CT Selvam and Anjana Prakash of the Patna High Court.

The ELection Commission of India refused time to the Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh to back his charges against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Congress leader had allaged that Shah called up and intimidated District Magistrates a day ahead of the counting of votes. Ramesh had sought a week’s time to file his rebuttal. “Your allegation that attempts have been made to influence the District Magistrates of around 150 Parliamentary Constituencies, who are also the ROs/DEOs, has serious connotation and direct bearing on the sanctity of the counting process, scheduled for tomorrow,” the Commission said in its written response to Ramesh, adding that no DM or other district official has reported any such undue influence.

Despite the exit polls predicting a third straight term for the Modi government, the Congress party on Sunday maintained that the INDIA alliance would win 295 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and form a government at the Centre. The tally, Congress claims, is based on its own internal survey across 543 constituencies.

As per Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Jammu and Kashmir recorded its highest turnout in over four decades. As per EC data, the voter turnout was recorded at 58.58 per cent overall and 51.05 per cent in the Kashmir Valley.

The Election Commission of India said that seizures during the polling period went up by over 175 per cent since the last general elections. As pert the EC, cash, freebies, drugs and liquor worth Rs 10,000 crore were seized during this election as compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2019.

The Election Commission of India on Monday claimed that a record 64 crore voters exercised their franchise in the seven-phase elections that concluded on June 1. This, as per CEC Rajiv Kumar, is the highest ever for India and a world record. “India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year,” said CEC Kumar.

Almost half of all candidates in the fray from the 543 Lok Sabha seats are Independent candidates. As per a report by PRS Legislative Research, a total of 8,360 candidates are contesting in the Lok Sabha elections of which 16 per cent have been fielded by national parties, six per cent by state parties while a resounding 47 per cent are Independents. This is the highest number of candidates ever to contest a Lok Sabha election. The previous high was 8,039 candidates.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has fielded 282 candidates out of 543, its lowest-ever tally of candidates in any Lok Sabha election. This compromise is a consequence of the alliance it has formed with several like-minded parties across states. The BJP, on the other hand, is contesting on 433 of the 543 seats while other NDA partners are in fray in the remaining 110 seats.

The general elections are a test for Congress and its leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, following two back-to-back defeats in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. The Congress has also led the formation of the INDIA bloc of 23 Opposition parties with the aim of preventing the division of votes and dethroning the Modi government from power.

All exit polls have predicted a clear majority for the BJP-led NDA, with at least three agencies predicting 400 or more seats on the higher side of their range. An average of all exit polls shows the NDA winning 350-365 seats, equalling the NDA’s 2019 tally.

Despite its many successes over the past decade, the BJP has so far failed to make its mark in any election in Kerala. This time though, the exit polls have predicted that the BJP may finally open its account in the state, with the likelihood of winning 2-3 seats.