New Delhi:
The trends are now available for all the 542 seats and as the exit polls predicted, the BJP is leading on 337 seats, improving its 2014 tally of 336 seats. The BJP has crossed the 282 mark which it touched in the last general elections.
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Here is the 10:40 AM report on trends/results of the Lok Sabha elections 2019:
BJP+: 337 | Congress: 100 | Others: 105
The trends show BJP leading with such massive difference which is unlikely to change in the official results, meaning that Narendra Modi is set to return as the prime minister, as already predicted by the exit polls. Moreover, the BJP has on its own crossed the majority mark of 272.
The counting exercise, which began at 8 am, is on in over 4,000 counting centres amid concerns raised by opposition parties over alleged tampering of EVMs. They have asked the Election Commission to ensure transparency in counting.
Election Commission officials said final results are expected only by late evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several union ministers, BJP chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are among key leaders who contested the polls.
Most exit polls predicted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is on course to retain power for a second term.
However, the opposition parties have trashed results of the exit polls, claiming that the BJP will suffer severe drubbing due to rising unemployment, farm distress and slowdown in the economy.
The voting was staggered between April 11 and May 19 in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha from a total of 8,049 contestants.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 282 seats while the Congress suffered a severe drubbing, getting an all-time low of 44 seats as against 206 it won in 2009.
