June 4, 2024
Follow the live coverage of the poll results here.
NEW DELHI – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has raced into an early lead as votes are being tallied on June 4 from India’s 44-day general election.
Early results show the BJP leading in 244 seats, with about a 39 per cent share of the popular vote, national election commission data shows. The opposition alliance, which includes Congress, is ahead in almost 200 seats.
Mr Modi is leading in the holy city of Varanasi, a constituency he has held since 2014, by more than 60,000 votes.
However, unlike in 2019, the BJP is in a tight race against the opposition alliance in multiple constituencies.
This points to an anti-incumbent effect, as rising inflation was a big voter concern in these elections.
In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is leading in only 34 seats. This is a state where the party had won 72 out of 80 seats in 2019.
Instead, the regional Samajwadi Party, which is part of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, is leading in early results. This is despite the contentious inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, believed to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Ram.
The counting of votes cast in the enormous seven-phase general election began at 8am local time (10.30am Singapore time).
More than 642 million people – the largest number in the world – voted over seven rounds of polling held between April 19 and June 1 for 543 parliamentary constituencies across 28 states and eight union territories. This was 66.5 per cent of the total registered voters.
The outcome will decide the new government and prime minister of the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people, but also India’s economic and political heft, both within and outside the country.
India follows the first-past-the-post system, in which the candidate securing the most number of votes is declared the winner. The alliance that secures a simple majority of more than half of the 543 constituencies – that is, at least 272 – can stake a claim to form the government for the next five years.
The prime minister is then selected by the winning party or coalition. The National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) prime ministerial candidate is undoubtedly Mr Modi, whose astounding popularity the entire campaign was hinged on. The opposition-led bloc has not announced its pick for prime minister.
In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats, reinstating Mr Modi for a second consecutive term. It won 282 seats in 2014.
This time, the BJP has set a target of 370 seats for itself and 400 seats for NDA.
Poll officials have said postal ballots will be counted first. After that, votes from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from 1.05 million polling booths will be tallied.
The results will become clear by the afternoon of the counting day.
Most Indians will watch the news today, checking not just the results of their constituencies but also outcomes of the key contests, like in Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Mr Modi is contesting, and Rae Bareli, also in Uttar Pradesh, and Wayanad in southern Kerala where Mr Rahul Gandhi of the Congress is contesting.
TV channels usually run the trends coming in from the Election Commission of India (ECI) in big font on their screens all day.
This results day is expected to be more tense than others as counting occurs amid unprecedented doubts raised by the opposition parties and civil society about the fairness and impartiality of the ECI. Paramilitary forces are on standby in some regions for any outbreak of violence.
In a sign of waning trust in the ECI due to its delayed and muted response or lack of action over religiously incendiary speeches made by politicians, complaints of voter suppression and alleged irregular disclosure of voter turnout data, a group of 120 civil society organisations and the opposition parties wrote to all the polling officers a day before counting, asking them to ensure free, fair and accountable counting.
To reassure voters and parties, the ECI said the counting process will be as transparent as possible, with live-streaming via closed-circuit television cameras, the presence of political representatives from each party in the counting centres and impartial observers.
The contest between the BJP and the opposition alliance is a reflection of a broader ideological battle in the country today.
The BJP’s campaign was led by Mr Modi, who participated in over 200 public meetings, talking about not only infrastructural development and national pride, but also Hindu nationalist ideals. Some of the party’s advertisements featured opposition leaders as villainous Muslims stealing from the nest of hapless Hindus, before the ECI pulled them off social media for violating ethical conduct.
The Congress, weakened by poll losses in previous years, a string of defections and a freezing of its bank accounts, ran a campaign pitched on defeating the BJP, which it accused of being dictatorial, corrupt and discriminatory to millions of non-Hindus.
The opposition bloc offered a manifesto that it claimed was aimed to create an inclusive, secular and progressive society.