Election Results 2019 LIVE Updates: BJP Crosses Majority Mark On Its Own In Early Lead
The BJP has taken an early lead as counting of the ballot for the 542 Lok Sabha seats gathered pace across the country. The BJP was leading in over 300 seats and the Congress was ahead in over 100 seats at around 9:30 am. The seven-phase election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term, saw 8,000 candidates fighting for 542 seats. This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election results that results of voting machines will be matched with VVPATs or slips generated by paper trail machines.
Exit polls predicted that the BJP will win almost as many seats as it did in 2014 and form a government comfortably. The poll of polls, an aggregate of exit polls, gives the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) 302 of 543 seats and the Congress and its allies 122.
The months and weeks leading up to the election saw an acrimonious campaign and bitter attacks by political rivals. The BJP campaigned aggressively on the nationalism pitch and played up the recent Balakot air strikes against Pakistan as an example of PM Modi's strong leadership. The opposition, led by the Congress party and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, tried to steer the narrative towards the economy, farmer distress and jobs.
Among the key candidates are PM Modi who fought from Varanasi and Rahul Gandhi, who contested from his stronghold of Amethi and Wayanad in Kerala. This is the first time Mr Gandhi contested more than one seat.
67.11 per cent of the 90.99 crore electors had cast their vote in the polls.
Votes will also be counted for the assembly election in four states - Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim - that were held along with the national polls.
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