The counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha election is underway. As per the trends at 9.30 pm, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had won 190 seats and was leading in 50. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was ahead in 292 seats.

The Congress had won 73 and was leading in 26, while the Opposition INDIA bloc as a whole was ahead in 232 constituencies.

Among the constituents of the INDIA bloc, the Samajwadi Party had secured victory in 27 seats and was leading in 10, while the Aam Aadmi Party had won three seats in Punjab. The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference won the Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) had secured victory in six seats and was leading in three, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) was leading in six seats and won from Maharashtra’s Dindori, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won from three constituencies.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had won eight seats and was leading in 14, the Trinamool Congress was ahead in nine seats after winning 20 and the Rashtriya Janata Dal was ahead in two seats and won two.

Among the constituents of the NDA, the Telugu Desam Party had won five seats and was leading in 11 seats, while the Janata Dal (Secular) emerged victorious in two seats in Karnataka. Party leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy won with a margin of 2,84,620 from Mandya. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena was leading in two seats and won five, and the Janata Dal (United) was leading in two seats after winning 10.

Among the parties that are not aligned either with the ruling alliance or the Opposition bloc, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP was leading in three seats and had won one. The Zoram People’s Movement won from Mizoram.

The counting of postal ballots started first, in accordance with the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The counting of votes polled with Electronic Voting Machines started at 8.30 am.

Polling across 542 parliamentary constituencies was held across seven phases between April 19 and June 1. The Lok Sabha has 543 seats and a party or coalition needs 272 seats to form the government.

Polling was not held in the Surat Lok Sabha constituency after the BJP candidate was elected unopposed before the elections in April. This came after the Congress candidate was disqualified by the polling officer and other candidates withdrew their nominations.

Watch: Elections Online – the election results coverage by five independent newsrooms

The first phase of polling recorded an average turnout of 66.14%, followed by 66.71% in the second phase. There was 65.68% polling in the third phase and 69.16% in the fourth. While the average turnout in the fifth phase was 62.2%, the sixth phase recorded a turnout of 63.37% and the final round saw an estimated 61.6% polling.

The elections were marred by allegations of vote suppression and alleged intimidation of Opposition candidates in some constituencies, divisive campaign speeches by key politicians, incendiary campaign advertisements and instances of post-poll violence in some regions.

In the 2019 general election, the BJP had won 303 seats on its own. The National Democratic Alliance had won 353 seats. The Congress had bagged 52 seats and the United Progressive Alliance it led had won 91 seats.

Last year, several major Opposition parties came together to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or the INDIA bloc.

This Opposition alliance includes the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party group and the Left parties.

Several exit polls on Saturday predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will secure a comfortable majority in the Lower House of Parliament.

The exit polls forecast that the ruling coalition would win at least 320 seats. While the Opposition INDIA bloc could win between 107 to 182 parliamentary seats, other parties could secure anywhere between 15 to 55 seats, according to most pollsters.

Assembly elections were also held simultaneously in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The counting of votes in the state polls in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim took place on Sunday. The BJP retained power in Arunachal Pradesh with a greater majority. In Sikkim, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won an absolute majority.

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