Lok Sabha poll results: BJP leading on 152 seats, Congress 61, Samajwadi Party 32

In Uttar Pradesh, INDIA alliance was leading in seats including Meerut, where the BJP fielded Ramayan fame actor Ram Arun Govil

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) took an early lead as counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections began at 8am on Tuesday.

Counting of votes in Chennai on Tuesday. (PTI)

According to the Election Commission of India website at 9:24am, the BJP was leading on 152 seats, Congress 61, Samajwadi Party (SP) 32, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) 12, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 3, Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) 2, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), 3, Shiv Sena (Shinde) 7, Shiv Sena (UBT) 3, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) 3, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) 2.

In Uttar Pradesh, Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was leading in seats including Meerut, where the BJP fielded Ramayan fame 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.

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.