Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance is leading as India counts votes but a united opposition is giving a spirited fight, with the main opposition Indian National Congress doing better than expected.
The mammoth seven-phase election – the world’s largest democratic exercise – began on April 19 and ended on Saturday.
A party or coalition needs 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. Exit polls say Modi could return to power for a third consecutive term.
The Election Commission says a record-breaking 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered election as it dismissed opposition concerns over how the votes would be counted.
However, the voter turnout this year was 66.3 percent, about one percentage point lower than 2019.
