India Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 LATEST Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi and will address party workers soon.

Smriti Irani tweeted on her victory in Amethi and said, “Nothing is impossible.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi conceded defeat in Amethi and said that he respected the mandate of the people. He also congratulated Smriti Irani for her victory in Amethi.

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan congratulated Narendra Modi. “I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” he said in a tweet.

 Pragya Singh Thakur has won from Bhopal against Digvijaya Singh. BJP has won four seats in Karnataka.

BJP chief Amit Shah has reached BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Arriving in a car amid a sea of BJP supporters, Shah was welcomed with flowers and fan fare. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi reach Rahul Gandhi’s residence for the second time in the day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely set the agenda for the next five years without losing any time. Modi is expected to meet party workers at the BJP headquarter in New Delhi at 5 pm today. BJP will hold their parliamentary meeting, as they traditionally do, on Thursday evening.

As BJP secured a historic lead of 299, ensuring that if it wins with this mandate it will not need allies to form the government at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again!” Party president Amit Shah tweeted thanking the country and announcing, “Once Again Modi government.”

As Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA inches towards one of the most historic electoral mandate in Independent India, it’s prudent to note why did Rahul Gandhi-led UPA manage to fare so poorly. The Congress committed a grave error in choosing Nyuntam Aay Yojana, or NYAY, as its main poll plank instead of unemployment and rural distress. People didn’t understand the scheme in the first place with its complex structure. Forget voters, it is doubtful if Congress workers understood it well enough. The scheme sought to assure a minimum income of Rs 72,000 to the poorest 20 percent of India’s population. In a country where availing proper income data is still work in progress, it was virtually impossible for the scheme to work. Gandhi’s Congress also failed to answer questions on where the money for the scheme will come from. READ MORE HERE

The BJP, according to trends around noon, is not only the single-largest party but has comfortably breached the 272 mark. The saffron unit is leading in 287 seats as of now and it won’t be a surprise if it pushed the 300-mark on its own. The NDA, at this point, is close to leading in 350 out of 542 seats. The role played by Modi’s most trusted general — Amit Shah — will not go unnoticed and this time Shah had an added responsibility.

It is risky to speculate what portfolio Modi might hand over to Shah, given the latter’s propensity to surprise. It is safe however to say that it will be an important portfolio that will help achieve the goals of Modi 2.0. As party president, Shah has already proved his administrative acumen and such a job might be a promotion that matches his bigger stature in the party and in national politics.

YS Jagan Reddy likely to be sworn-in on May 30 subject to technical clearances, senior YSR Congress leader Ummareddy Venkateswarulu was quoted as saying. Jagan is set to sweep the elections in Andhra Pradesh, with a perfect 10/10 victory in the Lok Sabha elections and a whopping 147 of the state’s 175 Assembly seats. The majority mark in the state assembly stands at 88.

Even before the Election Commission numbers made any official announcements about winners for Lok Sabha elections, Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe congratulated Narendra Modi saying, “We look forward to working closely with you.”

The BJP-led NDA is leading in 38 seats of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar while the RJD is leading in two seats, according to Election Commission trends. The BJP and JD(U) are leading in 16 seats each while the LJP is leading in six seats. The RJD, a ‘mahagathbandhan’ constituent, is leading in two seats of Jehanabad and Pataliputra. Prominent NDA faces who are leading include- Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib), Radha Mohan Singh (Purvi Champaran), Giriraj Singh (Begusarai), RK Singh (Ara), Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Buxar). Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Saran), Chirag Paswan (Jamui), Ram Vilas Paswan’s brother Pashupati Kumar Paras (Hajipur) are also among the NDA candidates who are leading.

In 2014, one of the few states to have thwarted the saffron wave was West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress bagged 34 out of 42 seats. Five years have passed. Going by early trends on counting day, Narendra Modi has not only managed to engineer another ‘wave’ election in his favour but this time he has done even better. According to trends projected by Firstpost at the time of writing, the BJP has roared into double figures in the state and is hot on the heels of the ruling party.

The saffron outfit is leading in 15 seats, the TMC is ahead in 25 while Congress is ahead in two. Remember that in 2014 amid nationwide Modi wave, the BJP could win only two seats in Bengal. NDTV paints an even more optimistic figure for BJP. Around 11am, roughly three hours into counting, the NDTV website shows BJP ahead in 17 seats while the TMC is ahead in 22.

A quick research based on data from the official Lok Sabha website showed that if the BJP is voted for a repeat term, which according to the early trends look extremely possibly, and with a full majority — then this victory will be a bigger milestone than 2014. If Modi returns to power with a full majority on 23 May, it will be for the first time in 48 years that an incumbent prime minister and his party return to power with a full majority. The last time this happened was in 1971, when Indira Gandhi led the Congress (R) to victory with a full majority after having done the same in 1967 (for the united Congress).

Sensex hits 40,000 mark for the first time ever, rallies nearly 900 pts, while Nifty crosses 12,000 as BJP takes a decisive lead in the Lok Sabha election results. The markets were buoyant with indices hitting new high as early trends showed BJP-led NDA leading in 340 seats. BSE Sensex rallied over 900 points while the NSE Nifty soared over 270 points to hit their respective record highs in early trade Thursday, as counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election began.

The Narendra Modi wave has swatted away any challenge posed by the Congress or the united opposition as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to improve on its humongous 2014 tally to attain a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha once again. The BJP is currently ahead on over 280 seats, with the partners in NDA pushing the total tally to over 340 seats, leads show as results of the general elections pour in. Key states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai look all set for a saffron sweep based on initial trends as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set for a second term.

Most of the exit polls had indicated a pro-incumbency wave and projected that the BJP-led NDA will comfortably cross the magic mark of 272 seats to form the government. According to the early trends, BJP-led NDA will comfortably cross the 300-mark. Trends showed that BJP is leading in 288 seats, while NDA is leading in 341. Comparatively, UPA is trailing with lead only in 92 seats while Congress has been able to secure leads in 54 seats.

In the first hour of counting, early trends show NDA is zooming past UPA with leads in 336 seats. Malegaon terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is leading by over 8,000 votes in Bhopal. Congress’ Digvijaya Singh is in second position. In Guna, sitting Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia is trailing BJP’s Krishna Pal Singh. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath Singh’s son Nakul Nath, who is contesting on a Congress ticket, is leading Chhindwara by over 6,000 votes. In Indore, a seat previously represented by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP’s Shankar Lalwani is leading by over 18,000.

Early trends for all 20 seats in Kerala are in and according to News18 all trends show UDF leading in Kerala. The analysts had felt that the Sabarimala row will affect the voter-bank for the UDF-led government in Kerala, however, early trends show that the issues haven’t had the effect that analysts predicted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA has taken an early lead in over 200 seats as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai are all set to go in the BJP camp based on initial trends. BJP candidate K Surendran has wrested lead in Pathanamthitta, one of the two seats on which BJP has pinned hope to open an account in Kerala. Kummanam Rajashekharan, the party candidate in the other seat in Thiruvananthapuram is trailing in the third position.

According to the early trends as EC began counting of votes, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has taken an early leap ahead of its competitors. As counting of votes for the general elections results gathers pace across the country, trends show BJP’s Babul Supriyo leading in Asansol constituency of West Bengal; Digvijaya Singh, who was initially leading from Bhopal, is now trailing and BJP’s Sadhvi Pragya is now leading.

As of 8.45 am, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is leading from Wayanad but trailing in Amethi; Smriti Irani is leading in Amethi; Amit Shah leading in Gandhinagar; Sunny Deol, who recently joined BJP, is leading in Gurdaspur; and Shashi Tharoor is trailing in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to latest trends in the first half an hour of counting, BJP is leading in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is leading from Lucknow and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is leading from Wayanad seat.

The Election Commission of India begins counting of votes in 542 parliamentary constituencies across India. Results are expected only by late evening, EC confirmed. According to latest reports, Rajnath Singh is leading from the Lucknow parliamentary constituency while Shatrughan Sinha’s wife Poonam Sinha is trailing.

The Election Commission deployed 200 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal, in addition to the 82 companies already present in the state, to ensure security at the counting centres and check any post-poll violence when the exercise is taken up. The votes will be counted at 58 counting centres with around 25,000 counting personnel at 78,799 polling stations spread over 294 Assembly segments in West Bengal. The Election Commission will start counting votes in less than 10 minutes, i.e, by 8 am.

Buoyed by exit polls predicting a sweeping victory for the BJP in Delhi, the party’s unit has already ordered delicacies like ‘motichoor cakes’ and ‘kamal barfis’, a day before counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, asserting the party’s victory on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, said 350-kg of fine quality “ladoos” have been ordered for celebrations at the central office on DDU Marg and the Delhi unit’s office on Pant Marg.

The Election Commission of India will start counting of votes for the seven-phase Lok Sabha Elections today (23 May, Thursday) at 8 am, bringing the curtains down on a bitterly-fought election. BJP’s star candidate Tejasvi Surya, who contested the Lok Sabha election from Bangalore South, a seat that the party has held since 1991, said that he is confident of a win. The 28-year-old lawyer is a poster-boy for the saffron party: he is the state general secretary for the Karnataka BJP’s youth wing and also a party spokesperson.

Most of the exit polls have predicted that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the ruling party at the Centre, is on course to retain power for a second term, riding on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma like the way he swept to power in 2014.

However, the Opposition parties, including Congress, have trashed results of the exit polls, claiming that the BJP will suffer severe drubbing due to rising unemployment, farm distress and slowdown in the economy.

The voting was staggered between 11 April and 19 May in which around 67 percent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha (polling in Vellore constituency was cancelled on the grounds of excessive use of money power) from a total of 8,049 contestants.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 282 seats while the Congress had suffered a severe drubbing, getting an all-time low of 44 seats as against 206 it won in 2009.

From ‘chowkidar chor hai‘ and ‘bhrashtachari no. 1‘ to ‘khaki underwear’, acerbic remarks ruled the roost this election season, making it one of the most bitterly-contested parliamentary polls post-Independence.

Representational image. AFP

Election Commission officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.

For the first time in Lok Sabha polls, the EC will tally vote count on Electronic Voting Machines with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in five polling stations in each Assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency.

It will effectively mean that out of nearly 10.3 lakh polling stations, the EVM-VVPAT matching will take place in 20,600 such stations.

In case of a mismatch, the results based on paper slip count will be considered as final.

The entire exercise of EVM-paper trail machine matching will take an additional four to five hours, EC officials said.

The Opposition parties on Tuesday raised concerns over reports of alleged tampering of EVMs and asked the Election Commission to ensure transparency in counting.

EC officials said the voting percentage of 67.11 this time was the highest ever voter-turnout in Indian parliamentary elections.

They said as per procedure, postal ballots would be the first to be counted.

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 17 May.

The exercise of counting postal ballots manually will itself take a couple of hours at least, an EC official said.

Out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, elections were held in 542 constituencies as the EC had cancelled polls to the Vellore constituency on the ground of excessive use of money power.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav are among key leaders who contested the polls.

A day before counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls, the Union Home Ministry alerted all states and Union Territories on the possibility of violence in different parts of the country, saying calls were given in various quarters for inciting violence.

In a statement, the ministry also said it has asked the states and UTs to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquility.

“The home ministry has alerted the state chief secretaries and directors general of police regarding possibility of eruption of violence in different parts of the country in connection with the counting of votes tomorrow,” the statement said.

The ministry said the states and UTs have been further asked to take adequate measures for the security of strong rooms and venues of counting of votes.

“This is in the wake of calls given and statements made in various quarters for inciting violence and causing disruption on the day of counting of votes,” it said.

The central security agencies have received inputs that some organisations and individuals, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura, have given certain statements which may lead to violence and disruption in counting process, an official said.

With inputs from agencies

<!–

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.

–>
<!–

Your guide to the latest election news, analysis, commentary, live updates and schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on firstpost.com/elections. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Facebook page for updates from all 543 constituencies for the upcoming general elections.

–>

Your guide to the latest seat tally, live updates, analysis and list of winners for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on firstpost.com/elections. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Instagram or like our Facebook page for updates from all 542 constituencies on counting day of the general elections.