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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition is leading as India counts votes. But trends so far suggest the BJP might fall short of a majority on its own as a united opposition led by the Indian National Congress makes gains.
Votes are being counted in the world's biggest election, held in seven phases over six weeks with hundreds of millions of people voting. Early trends show Narendra Modi's BJP-led NDA alliance is leading in nearly 300 seats, reports NDTV, BBC and Al Jazeera.
Most exit polls had suggested a comfortable win for Modi's party, which is eyeing a rare third consecutive term in power. However, the opposition alliance INDIA is performing better than expected and is ahead in more than 200 seats.
The mammoth seven-phase election – the world’s largest democratic exercise – began on April 19 and ended on Saturday.
A party or coalition needs 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. Exit polls said Modi could return to power for a third consecutive term.
That said, it is still too early to say anything - sometimes, parties and alliances can take an early lead only to lose once the final tally is in.
The Indian Election Commission says a record-breaking 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered election as it dismissed opposition concerns over how the votes would be counted.
However, the voter turnout this year was 66.3 per cent, about one percentage point lower than 2019.
