Heading towards a grand finale, the BJP, on Thursday, is the second political party in the Indian history to come back to power, even stronger this time.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won in 294 seats and is leading in another 32 seats, with the UPA coalition having won 76 seats and leading in only 12 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sought reelection from Varanasi struck gold, garnering over 63% of total votes polled. His rival Ajay Rai, of Congress, had polled 53,385 votes, about two lakh votes lesser than Mr. Modi. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who lost in his sitting constituency of Amethi in UP, made a record victory in his second seat of Wayanad in Kerala.
Also read: Live updates on Andhra Pradesh , Odisha , Arunachal Pradesh , and Sikkim Assembly election results
Here is a visualisation of party-wise leads as counting progresses
Here are the live updates:
In UP, BJP gets 60 and counting, SP-BSP struggles to touch 15
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) have won 62 of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats, demolishing the challenge posed by the SP-BSP alliance, which has managed 14 seats between them.
The counting of votes is still underway in the state, which sends the highest number of MPs in the Lower House, and the Election Commission has declared results of 77 seats as of 6:20 AM Friday.
Of these, the BJP has won 60 seats and its NDA ally Apna Dal (S) two. The BJP is also leading on two seats.
SKM’s Indra Hang Subba wins lone LS seat in Sikkim
The result on the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Sikkim went on a predictable line with Indra Hang Subba of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) winning the seat. Over the past four decades, voters of Sikkim have traditionally sent the state’s ruling party candidate to the Lok Sabha, and this time too they did not make exception.
The SKM has won the assembly polls with a slender majority -- winning 17 seats against SDF’s 15.
Of nearly 20,600 paper trail machine results, 12,480 matched with EVMs so far, EC sources tell PTI. Citing reports of state chief electoral officers, the sources say there have been no mismatch with EVM tally. There have been one case which appears to be a manual error. “It is being looked into by the EC.”
Bihar leads tally for NOTA votes
As per election commission data at midnight, the NOTA vote share stood at about 2 per cent of the total votes polled in the state, where results of almost all the 40 seats had been declared.
In the states of UP, Gujarat and West Bengal, 0.84 per cent, 1.38 per cent, 0.96 per cent votes were cast in favour of NOTA. The counting was still on for a few seats in each of these states.
NOTA, which was introduced in India following a 2013 Supreme Court directive, allows voters to express their dissent by pressing a button saying none of the contestants are worthy of their vote.
BJP wins absolute majority: EC
Bharatiya Janata Party has won an absolute majority of 272 seats and is leading in another 31 constituencies, according to the Election Commission.
Of the results declared for 458 seats past midnight, the BJP was on course to cross the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
The BJP is all set to surpass its 2014 performance when it won 282 seats.
The Congress in all likelihood will fall short of the 54-mark needed for the leader of opposition status in the Lok Sabha, winning in 45 seats and leading in 7. - PTI
Read The Hindu Editorial on the election result here.
Modi thanks Trump for his wishes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his wishes on the NDA returning to power, saying the victory represents the aspirations of a nation of 1.3 billion people. “I too am looking forward to working closely with you for closer bilateral ties, which also augur well for global peace and prosperity,” Modi tweeted.
In his tweet, Trump had congratulated Modi and his BJP on their “BIG” election victory.
“Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!” Trump said.
Modi also thanked Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NC leader Omar Abdullah, DMK’s MK Stalin and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for their wishes.
- PTI
Of nearly 20,600 paper trail machine results, 12,480 matched with EVMs so far: EC sources
Of the nearly 20,600 paper trail machine results to be counted, 12,480 have been matched with electronic voting machines (EVMs) so far, Election Commission sources have said.
Citing reports of State Chief Electoral Officers, the sources said there have been no mismatch with EVM tally. There have been one case which appears to be a manual error.
“It is being looked into by the EC.”
This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election that results of voting machines will be matched with slips generated by paper trail machines.
The exercise will take place in five polling stations per Assembly segment which effectively means that out of nearly 10.3 lakh polling stations, the EVM-VVPAT matching will take place in 20,600 such stations.
- PTI
Punjab untouched by Modi wave
Congress has won eight parliamentary seats in Punjab, bucking the pro-Modi trend seen across northern, central and eastern India in this general election.
Out of the total 13 seats in the State, Congress romped home to impressive victory, surprising both the SAD-BJP combine and the Aam Aadmi Party and improving its tally from three in 2014 polls. It had won Gurdaspur in a bypoll in 2017.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance won on four seats and the AAP bagged one.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, former Union ministers Manish Tewari and Preneet Kaur, and Ravneet Singh Bittu were among the prominent leaders who won in Punjab.
Major upsets in the poll outcome were Union minister and BJP nominee Hardeep Singh Puri, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra.
- PTI
BJP’s C.R. Patil wins by 6.89 lakh votes, biggest victory margin in 2019 elections
Two-time BJP MP C.R. Patil came close to surpassing the all-time victory margin in Lok Sabha polls as he won the Navsari seat in Gujarat by garnering 6.89 lakh more votes than his rival — the highest margin in 2019 polls.
So far, the highest victory margin of 6.96 lakh votes in Lok Sabha polls belongs to Pritam Munde, who won the by-election to Beed seat in Maharashtra in October 2014. The by-poll was necessitated after the death of her father and senior BJP leader Gopitnath Munde.
Patil has party colleagues Sanjay Bhatia, Krishan Pal and Subhash Chandra Baheria in the 6 lakh-plus club, while about a dozen other candidates have won by over 5 lakh margin.
- PTI
BJP’s Bholanath records lowest victory margin; wins Machhlishahr seat by 181 votes
BJP’s Bholanath won the Machhlishahr seat in Uttar Pradesh by just 181 votes, the lowest margin recorded in the Lok Sabha elections, defeating Tribhuvan Ram of the BSP.
This is the lowest margin of victory among the results declared for more than 375 seats by the Election Commission of India (ECI) so far.
Going by the latest available data, the victory margin of Bholanath — who polled 4,88,397 votes — is likely to be the lowest.
In the 2014 general elections, Machhlishahr seat was won by BJP’s Ram Charitra Nishad by more than 1.72 lakh votes.
- PTI
Newly elected BJP MPs likely to meet on Saturday, party passes resolution hailing Modi
The BJP parliamentary board on Thursday passed a resolution hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and thanking people for endorsing the party’s agenda.
All the newly-elected BJP MPs may meet Saturday to elect Modi as their leader, following which he will meet the president to stake claim to form the new government, party sources said.
The oath-taking of the new government is likely to be held on May 29, sources said.
- PTI
Kanimozhi wins by a margin of 3.47 lakh votes
DMK leader Kanimozhi, daughter of the late party patriarch M. Karunadhi won the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency by defeating her BJP rival by more than three lakh votes.
Kanimozhi trounced BJP leader and Tamil Nadu unit President Tamilisai Soundararajan by a margin of 3.47 lakh votes.
Kanimozhi is also the sister of DMK Chief M.K. Stalin, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, and was the party’s eyes and ears in New Delhi.
- PTI
Record victory for Modi’s ministers; Puri and Alphons go down
Riding the Modi wave, a record number of Union ministers marched to Lok Sabha, although former bureaucrats and senior cabinet ministers Hardeep Puri and K.J. Alphons failed to make it.
Textile Minister Smriti Irani emerged as a winner against Congress president Rahul Gandhi who conceded defeat from Amethi in one of the most keenly-watched contests in the country.
Giriraj Singh, who was up against Kanhaiya Kumar, former JNU president and CPI(ML) candidate, in Begusarai, was leading by 4.22 lakh votes. Radha Mohan Singh fielded from Purvi Champaran was ahead of his rival Aakash SIngh by a margin of nearly two lakh votes. In Arrah, R.K. Singh led against his nearest rival of CPI(ML) by a margin of over one lakh votes.
Ravi Shankar Prasad was leading against Congress’ Shatrughan Sinha on Patna Sahib seat by nearly 2.83 lakh votes.
Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey too sailed through against RJD’s Jagadanand Singh, leading by around 1.5 lakh votes.
Cabinet minister K.J. Alphons faced a humiliating defeat in Kerala. He trailed at the third place behind Congress’ Hibi Aeden and CPI(M) candidate P. Rajeev on Ernakulam seat.
His colleague and Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Puri lost in Amritsar by a margin of over 99,00 votes.
Another big loss of the BJP was Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha who was down by around 1.19 lakh votes against BSP’s Afzal Ansari on Ghazipur seat.
The big winners included Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. Singh led against Samajwadi Party candidate and Shatrughna Sinha’s wife Poonam Sinha in Lucknow by over 3.45 lakh votes.
Gadkari won from Nagpur by a margin of around 1.97 lakh votes. He was up against Congress’s Nana Patole.
On Chandrapur(Maharashtra) seat Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir had a tough contest on the platter and he was trailing behind Balubhau by over 45,000 votes.
Maneka Gandhi, who switched to Sultanpur (UP) seat, won by a slender margin of 14,526 votes against BSP’s Chandra Bhadra Singh.
In UP’s Baghpat, Satyapal Singh was also engaged in a keen fight with RLD candidate Jayant Chaudhary. Singh was trailing behind with 1068 votes.
Sanjiv Balyan was engaged in an intense contest in Muzaffarpur seat in UP. He was leading over his rival and RLD chief Ajit Singh by thin margin of 3,782 votes.
BJP’s biggest winners included V.K. Singh who led over his rival from SP Suresh Bansal by a margin over five lakh votes in Ghaziabad constituency.
Rajyavardhan Rathor was leading against Olympian Krishna Poonia of Congress by 3.89 lakh votes on Jaipur(Rural) seat. Arjun Ram Meghwal was sailing on Bikaner seat by 2.5 lakh votes. Anant Kumar Hegde (Uttara Kannada) was leading by nearly five lakh votes against JD(S) candidate Anand Asnotikar.
Union minister Mahesh Sharma was leading on Gautam Buddh Nagar(Noida) seat by over two lakh votes, against BSP’s Satyapal. In Bareilly, Santosh Gangwar sailed through with around 1.5 lakh votes.
Other ministers of Modi government including Jual Oram(Sundargarh), Sadanand Gowda(North Bengaluru), Shripad Yesso Naik(North Goa) Ram Kripal Yadav, Jitendra Singh(Udhampur), Rao Inderjeet Singh(Gurgaon), Narendra Singh Tomar(Morena), Babul Supriyo(Asansol), Ajay Tamta(Almora) among others, were on the victory march.
- PTI
PM Modi retains Varanasi seat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from Varanasi by defeating his nearest rival SP’s Shalini Yadav by a huge margin of 4,79,505 votes. Mr. Modi had, in 2014, won from the same seat with a margin of 3,71,784 votes.
Amit Shah wins by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes
BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday night was declared elected from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes against his nearest Congress rival C.J. Chavda.
Mr. Shah polled 8.94 lakh votes, while Chavda secured 3.37 lakh votes.
Mr. Shah has been declared elected, Returning Officer and Gandhinagar District Collector S.K. Langa announced at the counting centre.
In the 2014 general elections, BJP veteran L.K. Advani, 91, had won the seat. — PTI
World will have to take note of India now: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses party workers.
"Today, the 11 crore citizens have filled the jholi (bag) of this beggar," says PM Modi. "This is the most decisive mandate any party has won in so many years of independence, and that too in around 35-45 degree temperature. This in itself is a miracle," he says.
"The world will have to take note of India as a superpower now," he adds.
"I want to thank the Election Commission, the soldiers and the guardians of our democracy for keeping alive the faith in this," says PM Modi. He goes on to explain the significance of the verdict in terms of a metaphor involving Mahabharata.
'World will have to recognise India’s democratic strength'
"This election was not fought by netas, but by the common man," he says. "This is highest voter turnout India has seen. World will have to recognise India’s democratic strength," says PM Modi. "We had gone to people seeking mandate to build a new India. People have given us their blessings for it," he says. He goes on to congratulate the leaders elected to four State Assemblies and says he will work with them for the development of the nation.
"Crores and crores of party workers are working towards just one emotion: 'Bharat mata ki jai'. Workers have worked selflessly to ensure this victory," says Mr. Modi.
He pauses, as crowd chants 'Modi Modi'.
"I was very busy today, so I wasn't able to pay attention to the election results. I did not have the complete information," says PM Modi. He reiterates: "This is not Modi's victory, this is the victory of the citizens who were craving a corruption-free India. This is the victory of farmers who sweat so that they can feed the nation."
Mr. Modi goes on to list the policies his government had undertaken during the 2014-2019 period. "The taxpayers did not know earlier if the tax they payed were being put to the right use; they have been reassured of that now."
'No more masks of secularism'
Ridiculing the "secularism tag", he says "no one can dare cheat the country wearing the mask of secularism any more."
"This was the first election where no political party could accuse the ruling party of corruption," says Mr. Modi.
“There are only two castes. One is poor and the other is the one who wants to remove poverty,” he adds. “Between 1942 and 1947 people did everything for the nation and independence. With the same spirit, from 2019-2024, we will make India prosperous.”
“Whatever was said during campaigns, that is the past. I'm looking towards the future now. I accept this huge victory with all humility. The Constitution is supreme, and we will work within that framework.”
“In the time to come, I will not do anything with bad intent and motive, and I will not do anything for myself. Whatever I say in public, I'll implement with determination and humility.”
He ends his speech with shouts of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
This victory is a verdict on Narendra Modi's governance: Amit Shah
BJP leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah appear at the BJP headquarters to address the party workers, their first since the results of the elections have become clear. Visuals showed Mr. Modi being garlanded by the BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and other dignitaries.
"Bharat mata ki jai," says Mr. Shah, addressing the crowd. "This is the most historic victory ever since the independence of India, and it is a matter of great pride that we have achieved this under Mr. Modi. I thank the citizens of our country for this victory - this victory is your victory," he says.
"This victory belongs to every BJP member - from booth worker to leaders. It is a victory for the past five years of our goverment's 'Sabka saath sabka vikaas' policy," says the BJP president.
"There were some who could not digest the exit polls a few days back and decide to create doubt over the electoral process. But today’s result has even surpassed the exit polls. I want to tell Chandrababu Naidu that if you had laboured so hard to get votes, you could have possibly succeeded in opening your account in Andhra Pradesh," he adds, before going on to thank BJP's allies who won in different States. "I want to congratulate Y.S. Jagan and Naveen Patnaik for being elected as Chief Ministers of AP and Odisha respectively. In Arunachal Pradesh Assembly too, our youthful Chief Minister Pema Khandu has registered a great victory," he says.
When he mentions West Bengal, the crowd responds animatedly. "Results in West Bengal reflect that in the coming days BJP will come to win that State as well," he says.
"This is a victory of the ideology of sabka saath sabka vikas over the ideology of tukde tukde gang,” he says.
Referring to BJP's performance in the previous Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan anjd Chattisgarh, he says: "when we lost the three States of MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, I had said that Congress may have won but we haven’t lost. Today, we proved that."
"Over 80 of our party karyakartas lost their lives in West Bengal and Kerala so we could grow in that State, I pay my homage to them,” he says, adding “I laud the hard work of all our party workers”.
"Under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi, we have expanded our reach and growth across the country. I doubt there is any corner of the country where we won’t win the coming years,” says Mr. Shah.
Modi congratulates Naveen Patnaik for retaining Odisha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his Biju Janata Dal’s performance in the State Assembly elections.
The BJD looked set to form its government for a fifth straight term negating a Modi wave that is sweeping the country, with its candidates leading in 112 of the State’s 146 seats.
Patnaik, who is contesting the Assembly polls from Bijepur and his home turf Hinjili, is leading on both the seats.
“Congratulations to Naveen Babu for yet another victory in Odisha. Wishing him the very best for the next term,” Modi tweeted.
- PTI
I take 100% responsibility: Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday congratulated the BJP on their win, saying, "I had said in my campaign that people are the owners and the people have decisively ordered."
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Gandhi said, "I want to congratulate the BJP, want to congratulate our workers. Our fight is a fight of ideology."
To a question on what he thought went wrong, he said, "It does not matter what I think, what matters is today people have decided that Narendra Modi will be their Prime Minister."
He also said the Congress Working Committee will assess the party's performance in the elections.
Mr. Gandhi also congratulated BJP candidate in Amethi Smriti Irani, who is poised to defeat him, and asked her to take care of Amethi.
"I take 100% responsibility and I respect the verdict of the people of Amethi," he added.
Mr. Gandhi urged his party workers to not get scared. "We will fight together and make people respect our ideology," he said, adding, "Today is the day to wish the Prime Minister all the best."
BJP wins in 15 seats, leads in 288
According to data from the Election Commission as of 5.40 pm, the BJP has won in 15 seats and is leading in 288.
The BJP's coalition partners, the Janata Dal (U) and the Shiromani Akali Dal, are leading in 16 and two seats respectively.
My resolve to fight for secular India will continue: Prakash Raj
Though he admitted that the defeat in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat was “a solid slap on my face”, actor Prakash Raj, however, vowed to continue his “fight for secular India”. Mr. Raj, who contested as an independent candidate, has secured 28,915 according to the data available on the Election Commission website at 4.20 p.m. “A solid slap on my face... as more abuse... troll... and humiliation come my way... I will stand my ground... my resolve to fight for secular India will continue... a tough journey has just begun... thank you everyone who was with me in this journey. Jai hind,” Mr. Raj tweeted.
BJP wins two seats in Belagavi district
BJP won two seats in Karnataka's Belagavi district -- Belagavi and Chikkodi -- with huge margins.
While Suresh Angadi won his fourth term with formidable margin, Anna Saheb Jolle would begin his first term with a considerable margin by defeating two time MP and veteran Congressman Prakash Hukkeri.
Chikkodi was the only seat Congress held in Karnataka in the 2014 elections.
Mr. Jolle, who built a career in public life from a cooperative society, has now expanded its branches and activities into neighbouring Maharashtra.
His wife Shashikala who runs a school for challenged children and women's self help groups, is a two-term MLA from Nippani. The power couple will be the first MLA and MP to serve simultaneous terms from the State.
This election is a revenge of sorts for Mr. Jolle as he was defeated by Mr. Hukkeri and his son Ganesh Hukkeri in two elections in the past.
Shashikala is an active member of the Sahakara Bharati, an All India Federation of Cooperatives, affiliated to the RSS. BJP chose Mr. Jolle over Ramesh Katti, who had lost by a small margin of 3,003 to Prakash Hukkeri in the last election. That Mr. Jolle had lost the 2018 elections did not matter to BJP senior leadership. RSS leaders like Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat campaigned for Mr. Jolle. PM Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Chikkodi too.
Coalition positions as of 5 pm
| Party | Won | Lead | Total |
| NDA+ | 6 | 316 | 322 |
| UPA+ | 1 | 85 | 86 |
| BSP+ | 7 | 7 | |
| Others | 7 | 127 | 127 |
Karnataka's Haveri, first in country to declare result
The 2019 Parliamentary elections is a record of sorts for the Haveri district administration as it was the first to announce the result ahead of all other constituencies in the entire country.
Deputy Commissioner of Haveri and District Election Officer Krishna Bajpai said that they announced the result for Haveri Parliamentary Constituency around 3 p.m. and they received an official communication from the Election Commission about being the first to announce the result.
BJP’s Shivakumar Udasi won the Haveri Loksabha Cosntituency for the third time in a row by securing 6,93,660 votes against D.R. Patil who secured 5,42,778 votes.
Status quo in Meghalaya
In 2014, Shillong and Tura constituencies were won by Congress and NPP respectively. This year too, both parties are leading here, but with higher margins.
In Shillong, mining baron and Congress candidate Vincent Pala has established a clear lead of 1.5 lakh votes over UDF's Jemino Mawthoh.
Former Union Minister Agatha Sangma is leading in Tura. Mukul Sangma, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly, is trailing behind her.
Though the BJP, UDF, and NPP are coalition partners in Meghalaya government, the BJP chose to contest parliamentary polls separately.
In Goa, Congress and BJP lead in one seat each
Union Minister Shripad Naik is leading in North Goa, while his colleague Narendra Sawaikar is trailing in the South Goa seat.
The BJP had won both the seats last time.
However, the shocker for BJP was the Panaji Assembly bypoll. The seat, which was represented by the late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar went to Congress.
Father, daughter of Kurupam royal family face defeat in Araku
Major boost: N. Chandrababu Naidu welcoming Kishore Chandra Deo into the Telugu Desam Party. File photo.
V. Kishore Chandra Deo and V. Shruti Devi, the father-daughter duo of the Kurupam royal family, has both tasted defeat in Araku Lok Sabha seat of Andhra Pradesh.
While Mr. Deo, a former Union Minister, contested as a TDP candidate, Ms. Devi was the Congress nominee. Interestingly, Mr. Deo joined the TDP just before the polls.
As votes were counted on May 23, the father and daughter were placed second and third respectively with the YSR Congress nominee Goddeti Madhavi emerging as the lead.
Both Ms. Devi and Ms. Madhavi — daughter of two-time CPI MLA late G. Demudu — are making their debut in electoral politics.
KCR's daughter Kavitha trails in Nizamabad
Telangana Rashtriya Samiti candidate K. Kavitha is trailing behind BJP's Arvind Dharmapuri in Nizamabad.
Nizamabad had most number of candidates contesting in the elections — 185, a majority of them was farmers. Most of these independent candidates failed to surpass NOTA in the constituency.
The bigger disappointment was for Ms. Kavitha, the daughter of TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandra Shekar Rao. She had defeated her rival by over 1.6 lakh votes.
First results declared
Results of four Lok Sabha constituencies are out, with BJP snapping up wins in all the four.
BJP's Lalubhai B. Patel won the Daman and Diu seat, with INC's Ketan Dahyabhai Patel coming in at a second.
Udasi S.C. of BJP retained his Haveri seat from Karnataka, defeating his nearest rival D.R. Patil of Congress with a margin of 1,40,882 votes. Mr. Udasi has increased his winning margin by over 50,000 votes. This is the third time he is representing Haveri in the Lok Sabha.
India has won again, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted as the BJP is set to increase its seat share compared to the 2014 tally.
Though the party lost a few seats in Uttar Pradesh, it compensated with leads in West Bengal and Telangana.
Coalition positions as of 3.30 pm
| Party | Won | Lead | Total |
| NDA+ | 321 | 321 | |
| UPA+ | 88 | 88 | |
| BSP+ | 6 | 6 | |
| Others | 127 | 127 |
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate, Mahesh Chandra Hembram, is in a neck-and-neck fight with the BJD candidate Amar Singh Tudu in the Saraskana Assembly.
The JMM candidate got 11,559 votes whereas Amar Singh managed 10,205 votes.
Congress candidate Sonia Gandhi is leading by 96,644 votes against her nearest rival Dinesh Pratap Singh of BJP in Rae Bareli constituency of Uttar Pradesh.
Ms. Gandhi is the chairperson of UPA and former president of Congress party. In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Ms. Gandhi beat Ajay Agrawal of BJP by receiving 63.80$ of the votes cast in this constituency.
In the 2019 elections held on May 6, Rai Bareli registered a polling of 50.29%.
Update provided by virel.ai
Accept people's verdict: Mehbooba Mufti
"I’ve been fortunate to get the love & affection of my people. They have every right to express their anger for my failings. Accept their verdict with humility. Congratulations to winning candidates from NC. I’m grateful to my party workers & colleagues," PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said.
Her party drew a blank in all six constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP leads from Mamata’s anti-land acquisition launch pad
BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee is leading from Hooghly constituency, where TMC chief Mamata Banerjee launched her anti-land acquisition agitation in Singur, which catapulted her into the national spotlight.
Ms. Chatterjee was leading by over 64,000 votes over Trinamool Congress candidate Ratna De, according to the latest Election Commission trends. In 2014, Ms. De had won the seat by 1,89,084 votes. — PTI
Amit Shah set to win with huge margin
BJP president Amit Shah is leading in Gandhinagar by nearly 5 lakh votes against his Congress rival Dr. C.J. Chavda. While Mr. Shah has secured 8,21,705 votes, Dr. Chavda has got 3,20,136 according to updates on the ECI website.
Gandhinagar was represented by BJP veteran L.K. Advani for nearly two decades. This time he had to vacate his seat to pave way for “younger” leaders.
Mr. Shah, who served as Gujarat's Minister of State for Home under Narendra Modi, had represented Naranpura in the Gujarat Assembly.
Mr. Shah is currently a Rajya Sabha member.
Mr. Shah's political career began from RSS’ student wing, ABVP, and the BJP’s Yuva Morcha. Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah were credited for the fall of Congress in Gujarat. The State is being ruled by BJP for the past four terms.
Mr. Shah was the party in-charge for Uttar Pradesh in 2014, when the party swept the State by amassing 73 out of 80 seats.
It's been five years since Mr. Shah became the national president of the BJP. Under his leadership, the saffron party made in roads in the north east and the southern India.
Like in 2014, the BJP is set to win all 26 seats in Gujarat.
Yogi regains his prestige in Gorakhpur
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has regained his prestige in Gorakhpur by ensuring the victory of BJP candidate and Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan.
Out of 80 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, BJP were leading in 60 seats with a total vote share of 49.2%. Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in 11 seats and Samajwadi Party is ahead in 6 seats, while Congress, Apna Dal and Apna Dal (Soneylal) are ahead in one seat each
Ravi Kishan was, on Thursday, leading with over 2,50,000 votes over his nearest rival Ram Bhual Nishad of Samajwadi Party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had lost the Gorakhpur seat to the Samajwadi Party in a by-election last year and Yogi Adityanath's detractors used the defeat to hit out at the Chief Minister.
Adityanath had closely monitored Ravi Kishan's campaign, addressing over 25 meetings himself.
Jagan Mohan Reddy all set to become Andhra Pradesh CM
Forty-six-old Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is all set to become the second Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh after steering his YSRCP in the direction of a landslide victory. At 2 pm, YSRCP is leading in 145 of the 175 seats in Andhra Pradesh Assembly leaving just about 25 for TDP and five to other parties including Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena party.
The two national parties, Congress and BJP were nowhere in the scene.
YSRCP maintained the same trend in Lok Sabha elections leading in 24 of the 25 seats. By 1.30 pm, YSRCP’s vote share stood at 50.3 per cent and TDP’s 38%. The two national parties, Congress and BJP were nowhere in the scene.
As the news of Mr. Jagan’s grand vicotry spread, a large number of his supporters started gathering at YSRCP office at Tadepalli in the capital region of Amaravati to celebrate the massive victory. A supporter brought a big nameplate, “Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh”.
Senior YSRCP leader, S. V. Subba Reddy told media persons that the YSRC Legislature Party meeting would be held on May 25 where Mr. Jagan would be formally elected as the leader. The swearing of Mr. Jagan as Chief Minister is likely to be on May 30.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu may submit his resignation in the evening.
Mahagathbandhan helps BSP to stay in the game
BSP leader Mayawati’s decision to forge a Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) with the Samajwadi Party has paid off for the party.
The BSP failed to win any seat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections the party's tally was reduced to 19 from 80 in the previous Assembly. This election mattered to Ms. Mayawati the most as the BSP would have lost the national party status and the elephant symbol, if the party hadn't performed well.
The BSP-SP alliance contested in 78 out of 80 seats after talks for an alliance with Congress failed. It, however, didn't field any candidate in Amethi and Rae Baraeli.
The Samajwadi Party too has increased its tally to eight from five in 2014.
BJP takes huge lead
In a major setback to the Congress, the BJP has taken a massive lead in 28 out of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, with a 58.5% vote share so far.
Malegaon blast accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, thanked voters for their support. Speaking to the media outside the BJP office, she said: “ Dharm ki jeet hogi, adharm ka nash hoga (it will be victory of faith and defeat of those who are against it).”
Ms. Thakur has taken a big lead of over 1,50,000 votes against her nearest rival, former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Digvijaya Singh.
Mixed fortunes for dynastic politics
The Lok Sabha election results are throwing up mixed signals about family politics.
While Kerala gave a thumbs up for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh is giving him a scare. He is winning in Wayanad, but the Congress first family’s pocketborough Amethi appears to be disenchanted with him now. However, neighbouring Rae Bareli is set to elect former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi without any hitch.
In Karnataka, JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy are trailing. However, Mr. Gowda's other grandson, Prajwal Revanna — son of Karnataka PWD Minister H.D. Revanna — is leading in Hassan.
In Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha is facing defeat.
In Jammu and Kashmir, NC leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah is leading in Srinagar-Budgam, while PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti is trailing at a poor third place in Anantnag.
In Tamil Nadu, DMK’s Kanimozhi, former DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s daughter and the current president’s sister, is leading with a huge margin.
In Rajasthan, former Chief Minister Vasundara Raje Scindia’s son Dushyant Singh is leading in Jhalawar. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot is not that lucky in Jodhpur.
In Madhya Pardesh, Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Kamal Nath is leading in Chhindwara. However, senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is losing in his family bastion Guna, the seat held by his father and grandmother of the Gwalior Royal family.
BJP set to win Tripura's two Lok Sabha seats
For the first time, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is heading for a comfortable victory in Tripura's two Lok Sabha seats, poll officials said.
BJP candidate Pratima Bhoumik was leading against Congress' Subal Bhowmik by around 1,32,000 votes in the Tripura West seat.
In the tribal reserved Tripura East seat, BJP's Rebati Tripura was ahead of his Congress rival Maharaj Kumari Pragya Deb Burman by around 1,22,000 votes. - IANS
Mallikarjun Kharge heading towards his first electoral defeat
Congress Leader in Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who has never lost an election since the beginning of his political career in 1972, is trailing behind BJP candidate Umesh Jadhav by a huge number of votes in the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency.
As per the data at 1.30 pm, Mr. Kharge was trailing behind Mr. Jadhav by 70,450 votes. Mr. Kharge had 3,15,414 votes in his basket as compared to Mr. Jahdav’s 3,85,864 votes. Mr. Jadhav consistently maintained the lead right from the first round of counting.
Mr. Kharge, who won all his 11 elections in a row – 9 Assembly elections and 2 Lok Sabha elections, began his winning streak right from his first election, which he contested from the Gurmitkal Assembly constituency in 1972. He continued to represent the constituency in the Assembly till 2004.
When Kalaburagi, which was reserved to Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates till then became a General constituency in 2008 Assembly elections, he shifted to neighbouring Chittapur that had just become an SC-reserved constituency and won. - Kumar Buradikatti
Will Amethi choose Smriti Irani this time?
In Amethi, which has been the Congress bastion, the party's president Rahul Gandhi is trailing by 3717 votes. Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani is in the lead.
Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani. File photo.
Amethi has remained the citadel of the Gandhi dynasty. The seat was represented by Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi earlier.
Ms. Irani had lost to Mr. Rahul Gandhi in the last elections by a margin of over 10,000 votes. If she wins, she will be the first BJP candidate to represent the seat after 1998.
Gautam Gambhir makes an impressive debut
Ace cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who is constesting from East Delhi consituency on behalf of BJP, is leading by 1,25,048 votes. Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely is trailing behind him.
Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi, who fought a bitter campaign against Mr. Gambhir, is coming in at a distant third. The campainging for East Delhi witnessed some unprecendented events with the AAP accusing the BJP of indulging in slander against its party candidate. The AAP even slapped legal notices.
But East Delhi appears to have swung towards BJP. In 2014 too, the BJP's Maheish Girri won the seat.
Rahul Gandhi heads for record win in Wayanad
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is trailing in his sitting constituency of Amethi in UP, is heading for a record victory in his second seat of Wayanad in Kerala.
When the counting of over a half of the votes were completed, Mr. Gandhi was leading with a margin of an impressive 2.11 lakh votes against his nearest rival, Communist Party of India's P.P. Suneer. Political observers believe that Mr. Gandhi is likely to wrest the largest-ever majority of any candidate in the Lok Sabha elections ever held in Kerala.
Congress president and UDF candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency Rahul Gandhi waves to the crowd at an election meeting at Thiruvambady in Kozhikode. File photo.
One of the key reasons for the spectacular performance of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in this election is attributed to the so-called Rahul Factor, that his contest in Wayanad and the ripple effect it created.
However, Mr. Gandhi is currently trailing BJP's Smriti Irani in his sitting seat of Amethi. - KPM Basheer
Sakshi Maharaj leads in unnao
BJP's Sakshi Maharaj, who made headlines with his "Hindu women should bear four children" remark, is leading in Unnao by two lakh sixty thousand votes.
In 2014, the BJP won Unnao after a gap of 16 years. Playing the Lodh card, the party defeated the SP’s Anna Shukla by over 3 lakh votes, while the Congress’s 2009 winner Annu Tandon was relegated to the fourth place.
Despite facing heavy anti-incumbency and being dubbed an outsider, Mr. Maharaj holds fort mainly due to the Modi factor, the large Lodh population here and support among OBC castes such as Nishads, Kashyaps and Kahar and a major chunk of Brahmins and Thakurs.
BJP leading in 16 seats in Bengal, State at the doorstep of history
Within two hours of counting three things were evident in 2019 elections in West Bengal.
One , the BJP has emerged the main rival of TMC in the State with a good lead in 16 of 42 seats. Counting in five of at least 15 rounds, on an average, is over. TMC is marginally ahead of the saffron party with 23 seats.
Secondly , the Left – for the first time over last 50 years – has been entirely decimated, scoring less than 8% votes, with all key Left Front constituents put together. It is drop of about 22% from 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
Thirdly , Bengal’s left-leaning politics is all set to take a right turn, entirely altering the political landscape.
The victory is indeed attributed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led the battle for Bengal from the front, addressing 17 meetings in six weeks.
BJP, since its formation in 1980, has never had the kind of success close to the one is having currently. In fact, neither its predecessor, the Jana Sangh or the other popular Hindu right party, the Hindu Mahasabha, was anywhere close to BJP’s success in Bengal since Independence.
Around mid-day BJP polled 39% votes, a clear jump of 22%, that the left has lost.
While Congress share dropped by about five percent, TMC managed to retain its base. TMC, at 12 noon, has polled 44.65% votes which is marginally less than what it got in 2016 Assembly poll.
TMC increased its share by 5% at 12 noon. The results are expected to change later in the day. - Suvojit Bagchi
BJP heading for a clean sweep in Gujarat
The BJP, which is leading in all the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat, has a vote share of 61.7% at the moment, corresponding to more than three out of every five votes cast in the state.
BJP workers wearing PM Narendra Modi mask during Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani Roadshow in Ahmedabad on December 04, 2017.
BJP party president Amit Shah is boasting 72.47% of the votes cast in the Gandhinagar constituency, and leads his nearest rival, Congress' C. J. Chavda, by over 3,60,000 votes.
BJP, NC leading in three seats each in J&K
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and the BJP are leading in three seats each in the politically-sensitive State, currently under President's Rule.
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference is leading in Anantnag, Baramulla and Srinagar.
In Jammu and Udhampur the BJP is leading with a huge margin of over 1.7 lakh votes. Union Minister Jithendra Singh is the BJP's candidate in Udhampur.
The margin between BJP's Jamyang Tsering Namgyal and Independent candidate Sajjad Hussain in Ladakh is just 3650.
NC leader Omar Abdullah congratulates BJP, saying, "So the exit polls were correct. All that’s left is to congratulate the BJP & NDA for a stellar performance. Credit where credit is due. PM Modi Sahib & Mr. Amit Shah put together a winning alliance & a very professional campaign. Bring on the next five years."
Narendra Modi strikes rich
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves towards his supporters during a roadshow in Varanasi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking reelection from Varanasi has garnered over 63 per cent of total votes polled. His rival Ajay Rai, of Congress has polled 53,385 votes, about two lakh votes lesser than Mr. Modi.
Varanasi witnessed an interesting turn of events when former jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav filed his nomination papers, only to be rejected by the Election Commission. He even challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, but in vain.
In the last minute, Samajwadi Party fielded Shalini Yadav, who has garnered 79623 votes so far.
Nationalism narrative played big part in BJP win: CPI
The CPI has said BJP’s poll narrative centred on nationalism worked for the party in a big way in the Lok Sabha elections.
“I think it looks like nationalism worked for them in northern States and Karnataka,” CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told PTI commenting on the Lok Sabha poll outcome.
“Nationalism worked (for the BJP)... points raised by opposition unemployment, price rise, and ommissions and commissions of the BJP did not stand before the nationalism, particularly northern states,” he said.
Mr. Reddy said lack of electoral understanding between the Left parties and the Congress helped the BJP make big gains in West Bengal.
“There was polarisation between Trinamool and the BJP, as there was no understanding between the Congress and the Left. The ‘friends’ behind the Left who wanted to defeat the Trinamool went towards the BJP”, he said.
Asked if he thought the Left and the Congress should have fought the elections together in West Bengal, he said: “Yes, there would have been some confidence in the ranks“.
“Sabarimala undercurrent” helped the UDF electorally in Kerala, where Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad also consolidated the minority votes behind the Congress, he added.
BJP parliamentary board to meet tomorrow
With the BJP set to return to power, its parliamentary board is expected to meet on May 24 evening at the party headquarters where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make a speech.
Top party leaders, including BJP president Amit Shah and some senior Union ministers besides Mr. Modi, are members of the parliamentary board, its highest decision making body.
The board is likely to pass a resolution to thank voters for their support and also hailing Mr. Modi’s leadership.
The Prime Minister is also expected to address party workers.
BJP ahead; Modi leading in Varanasi, Rahul trails in Amethi
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal (S) surged ahead of their rivals in 58 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading in Varanasi by a margin of more than 1.22 lakh votes, according to Election Commission trends.
The BJP was ahead in 57 seats and Apna Dal (S) in one seat. The opposition alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party appeared to be performing well in around 20 seats.
Mr. Modi was leading by nearly 1.75 lakh votes in Varanasi over his nearest SP rival Shalini Yadav. Congress candidate Ajay Rai is trailing at the third place.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is trailing in Amethi seat where Union minister and BJP’s strong contender Smriti Irani marched ahead by over 4,600 votes.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading by over 50,000 votes in Azamgarh, while his father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav was ahead by over 12,000 votes.
The Congress is leading in only one seat — Rae Bareli, where UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is ahead of Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP by over 36,000 votes.
SP stalwart Azam Khan is leading in Rampur over BJP contender Jaya Prada, who switched sides from the SP to join the saffron party just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Kunwar Danish Ali, who joined the BSP after leaving the JD(S) is leading by a handsome margin of over 48,000 votes in Amroha.
BJP State unit chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is leading in Chadauli. On the other hand, State Congress chief Raj Babbar is trailing behind his nearest BJP rival Rajkumar Chahar in Fatehpur Sikri.
While Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Santosh Gangwar were leading in their respective seats Lucknow and Bareily, another Union Minister Manoj Sinha is trailing in Ghazipur where mafia don-turned-politician Afzal Ansari of the BSP is leading.
After leading initially in Sultanpur, Union minister Maneka Gandhi suffered reverses and was trailing by 900 votes as counting progressed.
In Gorakhpur and Phulpur, where the Opposition had unseated the BJP in bypolls, the saffron party appeared to be taking a sweet revenge by leading at both the places.
Kairana was, however, an exception where sitting Samajwadi Party MP Tabassum Begum is maintaining a lead over the BJP, which had lost in a bypoll to Begum, who was then fielded jointly by the opposition.
Sitting MP and BJP candidate Hema Malini is leading against nearest rival and SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate Kunwar Narendra Singh in Mathura.
Pragya leads by over 56,000 votes
BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur, who was in the eye of a storm over her remarks praising Nathuram Godse, is leading in Bhopal by over 56,000 votes. Ms. Thakur has received 2,25,183 votes so far with her Congress rival Digvijaya singh getting 1,68,589 votes.
Former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar is trailing behind Union Minister Giriraj Singh by 1,27,365 votes.
Mr. Kumar, was the CPI candidate from Begusarai, his hometown. Mr. Kumar's star-studded
BJP leads in 23 seats; Kharge, Deve Gowda trail
The BJP in Karnataka is surging way ahead of its rivals as it was leading in 23 constituencies out of the 28 seats, according to the Election Commission of India website.
Ruling coalition partners Indian National Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), which had fought the polls together, were leading in only three and one seats respectively. An independent candidate was leading in one seat.
Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who has never tasted electoral defeat, was trailing in Gulbarga by a margin of over 40,000 votes against Umesh Jadhav of BJP.
Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H.D. Deve Gowda was also trailing against BJP's Basavaraj by a margin of over 15,000 votes in Tumkur. - PTI
Abide by what almighty decides: Hardeep Singh Puri
BJP candidate from Amristsar Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development and the BJP's candidate from Punjab's Amritsar Lok Sabha seat Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said he would "abide by what he (the almighty) decides".
"Everyone is subject to Hukam; no one is beyond it. O Nanak! One who understands Hukam, does not speak in ego," Puri tweeted.
Puri had earlier said the election campaign was spirited and yet dignified after meeting his rival and Congress' incumbent MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
According to trends from the Election Commission of India website, Puri, who had a vote share of little less than 41%, trailed Aujla, with a little over 51% vote share, by over 30,000 votes.
What grand alliance? NDA cruising, ahead in 38 seats
Bihar's ruling NDA is leading in 38 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats of the State, early trends showed on Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in 16 seats, Janata Dal (United) is leading in 16 seats and Lok Jan Shakti Party is ahead in six seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal is currently ahead in only two seats.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh, the BJP candidate from the Begusarai seat is ahead by over 75,000 votes. Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union President and Communist Party of India candidate Kanhaiya Kumar is trailing from the seat.
Farooq Abdullah leads in Sringar-Budgam
NC candidate Farooq Abdullah leads Srinagar-Budgam Parliamentary seat by over 42,000 votes against Agha Mohsin of the PDP.
In Anantnag, Husnain Masoodi of the NC is trailing Congress’ GA Mir. PDP's Mehbooba Mufti is in third place.
BJP makes in roads in Telangana
The BJP is leading in four constituencies in Telangana. The party failed to win a single seat in 2014 elections. In the Assembly elections held in December last, the BJP managed to win one seat.
Soyam Bapu Rao, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Arvind Dharmapuri and G . Kishan Reddy of BJP are all leading.
The TRS is leading in eight seats, while the Congress is leading in remaining five.
For more updates from Telangana click here
Sambit Patra leading, Jay Panda trailing
In Kendrapara, Jay Panda is trailing by small margin whereas in Puri, Sambit Patra is leading by a slender margin.
Trends available 542: BJP 288, Congress 52
The ECI website is showing status for 542 constituencies.
| BJP | 288 |
| Congress | 52 |
| Trinamool | 25 |
| BSP | 13 |
| SP | 8 |
| DMK | 22 |
| AIADMK | 2 |
| Shiv Sena | 20 |
| JD(U) | 16 |
| TRS | 8 |
| YSR Congress | 24 |
| BJD | 15 |
| TDP | 1 |
| CPI | 2 |
| CPI(M) | 2 |
| AAP | 1 |
| IUML | 1 |
| National Conference | 1 |
| LJP | 6 |
| NCP | 3 |
| SAD | 2 |
| RJD | 2 |
| JD(S) | 1 |
Updated at 11:10:01 am
Babul Supriyo leading from Asansol, Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour
Union Minister Babul Supriyo and sitting MPs Abhishek Banerjee and greenhorn Mimi Chakrabory were among those taking the lead from their respective constituencies in West Bengal, according to initial EC trends.
Union minister Babul Supriyo of the BJP is leading by 21379 votes against Moon Moon Sen of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) from Asansol Lok Sabha seat,as per the trends.
In Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat, sitting MP and AITC candidate Abhishek Banerjee is leading by 3808 votes against Nilanjan Roy of BJP.
BJP candidate Santanu Thakur is leading by 3461 votes against Mamata Thakur of AITC in Bangaon seat, while Khagen Murmu of the BJP is leading by 4699 votes against Mausam Noor of the Trinamool Congress in Maldaha Uttar.
Mala Roy of AITC is ahead of BJP’s Chandra Kumar Bose by 11898 votes, the trends suggest.
In Kolkata Uttar, Sudip Bandopadhyay of AITC is leading by 5361 votes against BJP’s Rahul Sinha.
John Barla of the BJP is leading by 1846 votes against Dasrath Tirkey of the AITC in Alipurduar
In Jadavpur, Mimi Chakraborty of the AITC is currently leading by 214 votes against Anupam Hazra of BJP.
In both Bankura and Howrah seats, BJP candidates are ahead of their nearest TMC rivals.
While Subhas Sarkar of BJP is leadings by 2687 votes against Subrata Mukherjee of AITC in Bankura, Rantideb Sengupta of BJP is leading by 1150 votes against footballer and Trinamool candidate Prasun Banerjee.
In Jangipur, Khalilur Rahman of AITC is leading by 10395 votes against INC candidate Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former President Pranab Mukherjee
Gadkari, Bhamre leading; Chavan, Shinde trailing
Union minister Nitin Gadkari was leading by 3066 votes in Nagpur, while Union minister Subhash Bhamre was leading in Dhule by 13128 votes, as per the trends available so far for the Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan, however, was trailing by 2876 votes in Nanded and former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde was trailing in Solapur by 4627 votes.
Out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra, BJP leads in 23 seats and Shivsena is ahead in 19 seats. Nationalist Congress Party is ahead in five seats and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen is currently leading in one seat.
Trends available 537: BJP 291, Congress 50
The ECI website is showing status for 537 constituencies.
| BJP | 291 |
| Congress | 50 |
| Trinamool | 25 |
| BSP | 11 |
| SP | 8 |
| DMK | 22 |
| AIADMK | 1 |
| Shiv Sena | 19 |
| JD(U) | 16 |
| TRS | 9 |
| YSR Congress | 24 |
| BJD | 11 |
| TDP | 1 |
| CPI | 2 |
| CPI(M) | 3 |
| AAP | 1 |
| IUML | 1 |
| National Conference | 1 |
| LJP | 6 |
| NCP | 5 |
| SAD | 2 |
| RJD | 1 |
| JD(S) | 1 |
Updated at 10:35:01 am
Rahul Gandhi trails in Amethi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is trailing Smriti Irani in Amethi by over 2,000 votes as per trends at the ECI site at 10:30:01 am.
Upper hand for UDF in Kerala
Initial hints of counting of votes render a major blow to the ruling Left Democratic Front.
The LDF could not gain an upper hand in any of the 20 seats, mainly its strongholds like Attingal, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kasargod, Kannur, Vadakara and Alathur.
Congrerss president Rahul Gandhi was leading in Wayand with over 39,000 votes.
UDF candidate Shashi Tharoor is sustaining his lead in the prestigious fight for the capital segment. LDF candidate C. Divakaran has been pushed to the third position, with BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan coming second.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) candidates P.K. Kunhalikutty and E.T. Mohammed Basheer maintained noticeable lead in Malappuram and Ponnani when the counting progressed into the second hour.
Except in Thiruvananthapuram, the Left Democratic Front is maintaining its second position in all other 19 segments when almost15% votes have been counted by 10 am.
Haryana: Congress leader Kumari Selja is trailing from Ambala seat by 25,923 votes while Deepender Hooda is trailing by 2,557 votes from Rohtak seat.
Himachal Pradesh: BJP is leading in all 4 Lok Sabha constituencies. Anurag Thakur is leading in Hamirpur by 1,21,975 votes.
Gujarat: BJP is leading in all 26 seats.
Assam : BJP leading in 6 seats, allies AGP in 2 and BPF in 1; Congress in 2 and AIUDF in 2.
Initial trends indicate collapse of CPI(M), rise of BJP in Bengal
After initial rounds of counting CPI(M)’s votes is down to 6.9% from 19.75 in 2014, while BJP’s is up from 17.02 [2014] to above 39%, a jump of about 22%.
The Trinamool Congress, however, is at around 44.9%, maintaining its 2016 [Assembly] percentage of 45%.
Trends of 23 out of 42 seats, indicate that TMC is leading in 14 seats, BJP leading in 9 seats.
In both seats of city, Kolkata north and Kolkata south Trinamool Congress’ candidates Sudip Bandyopadhya and Mala Roy are leading from their respective seats.
BJP candidate and Union Minister Babul Supriyo is leading from Asansol with 31670 votes
Trinamool candidate from Kolkata South Mala Roy leads with 25556 votes. Trinamool candidate from Kolkata North Sudip Bandyopadhyay leads with 9261 votes.
TRS ahead in 11 LS seats in Telangana
The ruling TRS was ahead of its rivals in 11 of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana, according to trends available from the Election Commission.
AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi was leading in Hyderabad.
TRS nominee BB Patil was leading over Congress candidate Madan Mohan in Zaheerabad by just 680 votes, official sources said.
Jayant Sinha leading in Hazaribagh
Union Minister and sitting BJP MP Jayant Sinha is leading by 6,486 votes against his nearest Congress rival Gopal Prasad Sahu from Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat as per initial trends, officials said.
It is pretty close in the Khunti Lok Sabha seat at the moment, with Kali Charan Munda of the Congress leading against his nearest BJP rival and former chief minister Arjun Munda by 1,113 votes. - PTI
BJP leading in 4 seats, Congress ahead in 1
The BJP is leading in four of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, including Gandhinagar where party president Amit Shah is contesting, while the Congress is ahead in one seat, as per initial trends.
Shah is ahead by over 19,000 votes against his nearest rival and Congress candidate C J Chavda, after counting of first round, election officials said.
Gujarat: BJP leading in 4 seats, Cong ahead in 1
The BJP is leading in four of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, including Gandhinagar where party president Amit Shah is contesting, while the Congress is ahead in one seat, as per initial trends.
Shah is ahead by over 19,000 votes against his nearest rival and Congress candidate C J Chavda, after counting of first round, election officials said.
BJP leading in three out of seven constituencies in Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party is close behind. The BJP had won in all the seven constituencies in 2014.
Trends available 320: BJP 178, Congress 54
The ECI website is showing status for 320 constituencies. BJP is leading in 178, Congress 54, Shiv Sena 10, TRS 8, JD(U) 6, BSP 5, DMK 12, BSP 7, SP 2, YSR Congress 6, Trinamool 4, NCP 2, AGP 3.
Trends at 09:15:02 am
Tejasvi Surya leads over Hariprasad
In Bangalore South, Tejasvi Surya of BJP is leading with over 14,000 votes.
A 28-year-old law graduate, Mr. Surya was chosen over over Tejaswini, wife of late Ananth Kumar who held the constituency for six terms since 1996.
Mr. Surya was part of the national social media campaign team for 2019 and general secretary of the BJP youth wing in Karnataka. Known for his ability to network, he was particularly noticed for his handling of the Digital Communications Team during the Karnataka elections 2018.
On March 29, 2019, he got an injunction order against 49 media outlets barring them from publishing “false, malicious and derogatory” news, after “me too” tweets and messages emerged on social media against him. The widely criticised gag order was later set aside by the Karnataka High Court.
Trends available 287: BJP 162, Congress 51
The ECI website is showing status for 287 constituencies. BJP is leading in 162, Congress 51, TRS 9, JD(U) 6, BSP 5, DMK 5, SP 3, YSR Congress 4, Trinamool 1, NCP 2, Shiv Sena 8 , AGP 3.
Trends at 09:10:01 am
Congress candidate Vaithilingam leads in Puducherry
Congress candidate V. Vaithilingam is leading in Puducherry Lok Sabha seat. Mr. Vaithilingam is also the Speaker of Puducherry Assembly. He is pitted against K. Narayanasamy of AINRC.
The April 18 battle holds an element of personal prestige for Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, who had suffered a shock defeat to AINRC’s R. Radhakrishnan in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 60,854 votes. While there was redemption in the Congress-DMK win over the ruling AINRC in the 2016 Assembly elections, and his ascent to the CM’s chair, a victory under his watch would be no less crucial for the veteran Congressman.
In the rival camp, the AINRC is homing in on K. Narayanasamy, a doctor and son of a former MLA, Kesavan, whose family owns a private medical college. Such a move is also designed to reap the Vanniyar votes which is a powerful electoral determinant in Puducherry.
Trends available 187: BJP 101, Congress 40
The ECI website is showing status for 187 constituencies. BJP is leading in 101, Congress 40, TRS 9, DMK 4, Trinamool 2, NCP 2, Shiv Sena 6 .
Trends at 09:00:02 am
Initial trends for Telangana is coming in. The strongman of Hyderabad, Asaddudin Owaisi is trailing behind BJP's Dr. Bhagavanth Rao. The BJP is also leading in Karimnagar.
Owaisi witnessed a landslide victory and polled 2,02,454 votes more than his closest rival – Dr. Rao in 2014.
Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh leads
In Ajmer, Bhagirath Chaudhary of BJP leading by 1,087 votes over Riju Jhunjhunwala of Congress. Jhunjhunwala is son-in-law of Congress leader and former Minister Bina Kak.
Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh (BJP) leading by 1,971 votes over Pramod Sharma of Congress in Jhalawar-Baran: ECI.
Pragya leads, Jyotiraditya and Nakul Nath trail
Pragya Singh Thakur is leading in Bhopal by over 3000 votes.
Nakul Nath is trailing in Chhindwara. Congress leads in Khargone.
Jyotiraditya Scindia is trailing in Guna, BJP's K.P. Yadav is leading
Initial trends: BJP 21, Congress 10
The ECI website is showing status for 36 constituencies. BJP is leading in 21, Congress 10, JD(S) 1, Mizo National Front 1, NCP 1, NDPP 1, Shiv Sena 1.
Trends at 8:40:02 am
Initial trends: BJP 9, Congress 3
The ECI website is showing status for 17 constituencies. BJP is leading in 9, Congress 3, JD(S) 1, Mizo National Front 1, NCP 1, NDPP 1, Shiv Sena 1.
Trends at 8:35:01 am
25 seats up for grabs in the North East
Counting of votes for 25 Lok Sabha seats across the eight north-eastern states have begun. The focus of the day of verdict is on Assam, which has 14 of the 25 parliamentary seats, where counting would be held at 51 centres across 33 districts.
The election to two parliamentary seats in Tripura – Tripura East and Tripura West – was also violent necessitating re-poll in 168 polling stations in the Tripura West constituency on May 12. The counting in Tripura will be held across 17 centres.
In Meghalaya, stakes are high for coal mine owner Vincent Pala of the Congress, former CM Mukul M. Sangma, and former Union minister Agatha K. Sangma.
Counting begins for all 542 seats.
The counting exercise is on in over 4,000 counting centres amid concerns raised by opposition parties over alleged tampering of EVMs.
The number of service voters stands at 18 lakh and these include personnel of the armed forces, central police force personnel and state police personnel who are posted outside their constituencies.
Diplomats and support staff posted in Indian embassies abroad are also counted as service voters.
Out of the 18 lakh registered voters, 16.49 lakh have sent their postal ballots to their respective returning officers as on May 17.
U.S. confident about fairness, integrity of Indian elections
The United States has said that it was confident in the fairness and integrity of the Indian elections and would work with whoever is the victor.
“I would say from the US perspective, we are very confident in the fairness and the integrity of the Indian elections, and we will obviously work with whoever is the victor and whatever the outcome is there,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters during an off-camera meeting.
Unlike other countries, the U.S. does not send its election observers to India because of the strong independent credentials of the Election Commission of India.
“We have a very strong relationship and a lot of cooperation with the Indian government on a full range of issues, and the Secretary (of State, Mike Pompeo) has said numerous times that we have a true strategic partner in India,” Ms. Ortagus said in response to a question.
The diplomat praised India and its people for carrying out such a massive exercise peacefully, describing it as fascinating. “Someone pointed this out to me today that India’s election is the largest exercise in democracy in human history,” she said.
“I think with everything going on in the world, that’s a thing that we can pause and think about and certainly commend the Indian people,” Ms. Ortagus added.
How are votes counted?
The Election Commission of India has laid out an elaborate procedure in counting centers in constituencies across the country.
Here’s the step-by-step process on counting day:
- Randomisation of counting supervisors and assistants for deployment will start at 5 a.m.
- Counting will begin at 8 a.m. under the supervision of Returning Officers.
- Each table in the counting hall will have a counting supervisor and agents picked by candidates or their election agents
- EVMs will be inspected in the presence of authorised officials before vote counting.
- Counting will be done by supervisor/assistant. Postal ballot papers will be counted simultaneously.
- After each round of counting, supervisor will sign it along with the counting agents or candidates. The Returning Officer will countersign. It will then be announced.
- The entire process will be video-graphed
- This will be followed by the mandatory VVPAT verification. As directed by Supreme Court, counting of VVPAT slips will be done for five random EVMs in each Assembly segment .
- In case of mismatch between counting of slips and EVM results, recounting of slips of the particular VVPAT will be done and then election symbols of slips will be checked.
- If results don’t tally after implementing the set process, the VVPAT slip count will prevail.
Hello and welcome to The Hindu 's live updates on Lok Sabha election results.
A day before the counting of votes the Election Commission rejected Opposition's demand to count VVPAT slips before the EVMs. The EC's decision didn't get down well with the Opposition. Nevertheless, the results are expected to be delayed due to the new process.
Also read: Live updates on Andhra Pradesh , Odisha , Arunachal Pradesh , and Sikkim Assembly election results.
The first trends are expected to be out by 9 am.
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