NDA, INDIA bloc in tighter contest than predicted
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Elections were marred by allegations of vote suppression and alleged intimidation of opposition candidates in some constituencies
The counting of votes for the India general election 2024 is underway. As per the trends at 11.40am local time, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 239 seats, data from the Indian Election Commission showed.
The Congress was leading in 96 seats. Its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner, the Samajwadi Party, was leading in 32 seats while the Aam Aadmi Party was leading in three. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference was leading in two seats.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was leading in 10 seats, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in five seats, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 21 seats, the Trinamool Congress in 28 seats and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in four seats.
The Telugu Desam Party was leading in 16 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) was leading in three. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena was leading in six seats and the Janata Dal (United) in 14. All four parties are the BJP’s allies.
The Naga Peoples Front and the Zoram People’s Movement were leading in one seat each. The Jammu and Kashmir People Conference’s was also ahead in one seat.
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, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament, has 543 seats and a party or coalition needs 272 seats to form the government.
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 NDA 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 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 NDA 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 INDIA bloc could win between 107 to 182 parliamentary seats, other parties could secure anywhere between 15 to 55 seats, according to most pollsters.