Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has taken an early lead according to preliminary figures from India’s Election Commission.
The counting of more than 640 million votes cast over the previous six weeks in the world’s largest democratic exercise was set to last all day, with Modi widely anticipated to be elected to a third five-year term when the final results are announced.
If Modi wins, he will become only the second Indian leader to serve a third term, succeeding Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s founding prime minister. After four hours of counting, the Election Commission stated that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was comfortably ahead of the main opposition Congress party.
According to preliminary results, the BJP led in 240 of the 542 constituencies and won one uncontested election. Congress was ahead in 94 constituencies.
Modi’s National Democratic Alliance was leading in 287 constituencies, while the opposition INDIA alliance, led by the Congress party and its primary campaign leader Rahul Gandhi, was ahead in 225.
The Election Commission does not reveal data on the percentage of votes cast, but counting was scheduled to continue throughout the day, and early results were expected to alter. The six-week election was viewed as a referendum on Modi.
If the 73-year-old wins, he will be only the second Indian leader to hold power for a third term, following Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister.
Exit polls conducted by major television channels on Saturday projected a comfortable victory for Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and its alliance, the NDA, over a broad opposition alliance, the I.N.D.I.A, led by the Congress party and its key campaign leader, Rahul Gandhi.
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