With vote counting in progress, early trends on TV channels indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is leading in more than 200 seats.

Nearly 642 million people participated in the Lok Sabha elections, held over seven phases from April 19 to June 1.

Amid tight security, the counting of votes began on Tuesday morning with postal ballots. Simultaneously, vote counting started for the State Legislative Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh (175 constituencies) and Odisha (147 constituencies), as well as for bypolls in 25 Assembly constituencies.

The BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in power, while the Opposition, under the INDIA bloc, is striving to unseat the ruling party.

Most exit polls forecast another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with several projecting a two-thirds majority for the BJP-led NDA. However, the Congress party and its allies have dismissed the exit polls as “orchestrated,” insisting that the INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre.

Strict security measures have been implemented to ensure the smooth counting of votes for over 8,000 candidates in this general election. The electoral fate of many leaders will be determined as votes are tallied. Among those in the fray are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from the BJP. Key opposition figures, including former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, NCP’s Supriya Sule, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, are also contesting.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 353 seats, with the BJP alone securing 303. In contrast, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could only manage 93 seats, with the Congress securing 52. Two polls have predicted that the BJP will improve on its 2019 performance.

Earlier on April 22, BJP’s Mukesh Dalal won the Surat seat “unopposed” after Congress nominee Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected.

(With ANI input)