The BJP-led NDA has crossed a majority in the Lok Sabha polls. However, the alliance’s strength reduced from its 2019 tally as the opposition INDIA alliance put up a strong performance, riding on the gains by its constituents with Congress also showing resilience in the crucial electoral fight.
The BJP-led NDA won 292 seats, the INDIA bloc bagged 234 seats and others 18.
| Alliance | Won |
| NDA | 292 |
| INDIA | 234 |
| Other | 17 |
Live updates
| Time | Updates |
| 6:00 pm | Lok Sabha elections: All Samajwadi Party Muslim candidates leading in UP (Read more). |
| 4:40 pm | Will Nitish return to INDIA bloc amid NDA’s slow performance? (Read more) |
| 4:00 pm | Over 2 lakh votes for NOTA in Indore after Congress candidate jumps ship. (Read more) |
| 3:20 pm | After Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti concedes defeat in J&K. (Read more) |
| 3:00 pm | I.N.D.I.A offers deputy PM post to Nitish, Special Status to Andhra Pradesh in bid to woo NDA partners (Read more). |
| 2:55 pm | Smriti Irani trails in Amethi by over 88,000 votes. (Read more) |
| 1:32 pm | DMK and allies all set for a sweep in Tamil Nadu; BJP crosses 10 percent vote share. (Read more) |
| 12:51 pm | Shashi Tharoor is trailing by 16386 votes in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. |
| 12:00 noon | Jailed independent candidate leads in J&K Baramulla; Omar, Sajad trail (Read more) |
| 11:35 am | Prajwal Revanna leads in Hassan (Read more) |
| 11:00 am | Ex-Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy leads with 1.20 lakh votes in Mandya (Read more) |
| 10:40 am | Congress headed for best ever show after 2014 elections, show early trends (Read more) |
| 10:35 am | Narendra Modi is trailing In Varanasi |
| 9:30 am | NDA crosses majority mark. |
| 9:20 am | INDIA crosses 200-mark in the early trends. |
| 9:15 am | NDA inches closer to the majority mark. |
| 9:00 am | NDA crosses 250-mark in the early trends. |
| 8:50 am | Kishan Reddy offers prayers at Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad. (Read more) |
| 8:40 am | NDA crosses 200-mark in the early trends. |
| 8:30 am | NDA crosses 150-mark in the early trends. |
| 8:25 am | NDA crosses three-digit figure. |
| 8:20 am | NDA, INDIA bloc in neck-and-neck race in early trends. |
| 8:00 am | The counting of votes begins. |
Counting of votes began for Lok Sabha seats at all centres
The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday amid tight security arrangements across all counting centres.
Many pollsters have forecast a third consecutive term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making it a focal point of discussions.
Should he secure another term, Prime Minister Modi stands poised to match the historical feat of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who remains the only leader to get elected as PM for three straight terms.
Exit polls predicted strong show by BJP
Ahead of the counting of votes, the Exit Polls have predicted a strong show by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a setback for the opposition’s INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections.
Roughly seven Exit Polls have projected approximately 350-370 seats for the BJP-led NDA in the 543-member Lok Sabha. They also indicated that the INDIA bloc might end up with around 107-140 seats, falling significantly short of the majority mark of 272 seats.
Three Exit Polls — India Today-My Axis India, India TV-CNX, and News24-Todays Chanakya — forecast that the NDA would secure over 400 seats.
Many other Exit Polls indicated a significant victory for the BJP in Congress-ruled Karnataka, while the India TV-CNX poll suggested that the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and the NDA are poised to sweep the polls in Andhra Pradesh.
The Exit Poll findings were released on Saturday evening, immediately after the conclusion of the seventh and final phase of polling.
Prime Minister Modi and the BJP have expressed confidence that the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will achieve a historic victory by securing more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha.
INDIA bloc will secure victory in the elections, claims Congress
Meanwhile, the Congress is claiming that the INDIA bloc, a coalition of over 25 opposition parties, is poised to secure victory in the elections with more than 295 seats.
The opposition parties have instructed their counting agents to closely oversee the vote-counting process on Tuesday, emphasising the importance of obtaining Form 17C, which includes the tally of votes registered at each polling station.
Also on Tuesday, the counting of votes for the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, along with by-elections to different Assembly constituencies, will be taken up.
The general elections were held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.
With inputs from IANS
