Lok Sabha Polls: BJP Leading On 42 Seats, Congress On 17

With the counting of the votes in Lok Sabha polls underway, the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading on 42 seats, as per the initial trends by the Election Commission.

According to the EC, the BJP is leading on 42 seats, the Congress is on 17 seats, Aam Aadmi Party is leading on four seats.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party is leading on two seats, Telugu Desam on 1, Hindustani Awa, Morcha (Secular) on 1 and Janata Dal (Secular) on 1 seat.

Around 642 million people voted in Lok Sabha elections held over seven phases in a mammoth six-week period. The counting of votes began starting with postal ballot papers amid tight security. The counting for State Legislative Assemblies of 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and results of bypolls in 25 Assembly constituencies also began.

The Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats of the lower house were held across seven phases.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a third straight term in power, while the Opposition under the umbrella of the INDIA bloc is seeking to wrest power from the ruling party.

Most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Congress party and its allies dismissed the exit polls as "orchestrated" and a work of "fantasy", asserting that the opposition INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre.

Strict security has been put in place for the smooth conduct of counting of votes for over 8,000 candidates in this general election.

Two polls predicted the BJP would also improve its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2019 elections, NDA wrested 353 seats, of which the BJP won 303 alone. The Opposition's UPA got only 93 seats of which the Congress got 52.

Even before the counting of the votes, the Bharatiya Janata Party won one seat of Surat Lok Sabha.

Earlier on 22 April, Mukesh Dalal won the election "unopposed". Congress nominee Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination was rejected. His candidacy was rejected because of alleged discrepancies in the signatures of the proposers. (ANI)