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BJP maintains lead, ahead on 209 seats, Congress on 80 at 10am
The votes were being counted three days after the world’s largest democratic exercise concluded on Saturday with 642 million votes polled across 1.05 million polling booths
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintained its lead as it was ahead on 209 constituencies at 10am, followed by the Congress 80, Samajwadi Party (SP) 29, and Trinamool Congress (16). The Telugu Desam (TDP) was leading on 15 seats, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) 13, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U)10, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey) nine, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) seven, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) five, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) four.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was leading in seats including Meerut, where the BJP fielded Ramayan fame actor, Ram Arun Govil. SP’s Sunita Verma was leading by more than 6000 votes in Meerut. Imran Masood of Congress was leading in Saharanpur and SP’s Iqra Hasan in Kairana. Azad Samaj Party’s candidate was ahead in Nageena by over 10,000 after the second round of counting. Union minister Sanjeev Baliyan was leading in Muzaffarnagar.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP was leading on 28 seats including Chhindwara. Congress’s Nakul Nath (Chhindwara) was trailing by over 7000 votes. Congress was ahead in Mandla with Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste trailing by over 200 votes. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was leading from Vidisha.
In Tamil Nadu, INDIA was leading on 25 of the 39 seats. AIADMK and BJP were ahead on one each. BJP’s state president K Annamalai was trailing.
BJP was leading on five of seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi and INDIA in two. It was ahead in seven of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha and Congress in Koraput. In Kerala’s Thrissur, BJP’s Suresh Gopi was ahead by 5081 votes.
TDP was leading on 15 of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, BJP five, and Jana Sena one. The ruling YSRCP was leading on just two seats, including Kadapa, where Y S Sharmila is the Congress candidate.
In Telangana, BJP was leading on eight of the 17 seats. TMC was ahead on 16 of the West Bengal’s 42 seats. Congress, which contested as an ally of the Left, was ahead on three seats.
In Rajasthan, BJP was leading in 12 of 25 constituencies, and Congress 10. State BJP chief CP Joshi, Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla (Kota), Union ministers Gajendra Singh (Jodhpur), and Bhupendra Yadav (Alwar) were among the 12 BJP candidates leading in the early trends. Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kailash Choudhary were trailing in Bikaner and Barmer.
The votes were being counted three days after the world’s largest democratic exercise concluded. As many as 642 million votes were polled across 1.05 million polling booths over the seven phase elections in six weeks.
Exit polls showed that BJP was set to match or better its 2019 tally of 303 and make inroads in the country’s eastern and southern regions as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped to win a historic third consecutive term. First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been the only leader to achieve the feat in the country’s history.
Exit polls showed INDIA could face reverses and make some gains in the heartland. The Opposition dismissed the exit polls saying they were furthering BJP’s narrative.
