Thu 23 May 2019:
Latest trends show the coalition led by the Hindu nationalist party is leading in race for over 330 of the 542 seats.
Counting of votes in under way in India after its marathon seven-phase general elections concluded on May 19, with early leads indicating the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a second term. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in nearly 340 of the 542 seats that went to the polls.
The opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) headed by the Indian National Congress (INC) alliance is leading in less than 100. The party or coalition with a simple majority (272 seats) is invited to form the government. The MPs from the winning party or coalition elect their leader, who then becomes the country’s prime minister. In 2014, the BJP had won an absolute majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha (House of the People), the Indian parliament’s lower house. About 67 percent of more than 900 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the staggered elections that the ruling party fought on issues of national security and a hardline Hindu agenda.
Modi to meet BJP leaders as party sweeps polls
The BJP’s parliamentary board meeting is scheduled to be held around 1200 GMT on Thursday. PM Modi will meet his party’s workers at their office in capital New Delhi, Indian news agency ANI said. The mood was upbeat at the BJP headquarters with party workers cheering as TV channels reported a growing lead. “It’s a huge mandate for positive politics and the policies of Narendra Modi,” said GVL Narasimha Rao, a BJP spokesperson. “It’s a huge win for India, we are humbled by the magnificence of this victory.”
Modi wins second term, says Indian TV channel
India’s NDTV news channel has said Modi’s BJP has crossed the halfway mark of 272 seats in the lower house of India’s parliament “on its own steam” within two hours of the counting.
