New Delhi: Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of the country, the BJP is set to return to power today as the NDA leads in 341 seats while the Congress alliance trailed far behind with 90, according to trends released by the Election Commission of India for all 542 seats that went to polls.
Other parties were leading in 110 constituencies.
After Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first Prime Minister, Modi is expected to win back-to-back elections with absolute majority.
The results have come as a shocker for the Opposition as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was trailing in Amethi, after Smriti Irani (BJP), while the Mahagatbandhan of the Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh failed to make inroads against BJP.
As the trends started emerging, pointing to another tenure of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, celebrations broke out in the BJP party offices across the country, including Chennai, with people dancing to the sounds of drums.
The trends of the ruling party’s leads were in sync with the exit polls, most of which predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would be on course to retain power for a second term.
If the trends stay until final results, the BJP would have improved on its 2014 performance when it had won 282 seats on its own in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Adding the seats won by its allies, the BJP-led NDA could win 343 seats, up from 336 in 2014.
It is only Kerala, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh that appear untouched by the Modi wave. Even in Telangana, where it was expected to fare poorly, the BJP was ahead in three seats.
The results are a resounding endorsement of Modi’s popularity, his government’s achievements in the last five years and his campaign, which centered on national security and nationalism, said BJP workers.
He also relentlessly attacked the Congress for what he called its dynastic legacy, and blamed it for the country’s woes. The Opposition had criticised the BJP campaign as divisive and polarising.
UP IN UP
In the politically-critical State of Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine had posed a stiff challenge, the BJP was leading in 56 of the 80 seats at stake. The SP was ahead in eight and BSP, 12. Although the BJP had won 72 seats in the last elections, the performance is much better than what many exit polls had forecast. The Congress was ahead only in one seat in Uttar Pradesh. Even Rahul Gandhi was trailing behind BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi by nearly 7,000 votes but was clearly ahead in Wayanad in Kerala.
EAST IS THE BEST
The Modi wave not only swept through the Hindi heartland and Gujarat, as expected, but also rippled through West Bengal. As votes for the seven-phase parliamentary polls were counted today, the Trinamool Congress was leading in 25 of 42 seats of West Bengal while BJP was ahead in 15, up from the two it held in 2014. The Left was wiped out of the State, once its citadel.
KARNATAKA CONTRIBUTION
The BJP has taken a huge lead in the national election in Karnataka over the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) alliance, which came to power in the State exactly a year ago. The BJP was ahead in 23 of 28 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress and JD(S) were ahead in only five in early leads.
Among the prominent candidates, Tejasvi Surya of the BJP is leading from Bangalore South constituency against Congress’ B K Hariprasad.
The JD(S)-Congress coalition appeared to be heading for a disastrous showing in the State after months of internal bickering and strain.
OVER TO ODISHA
In Odisha, the BJP was ahead in nine of the 21 seats and Biju Janata Dal was ahead in 11. In 2014, the BJD had won 20 seats and BJP took one. BJP’s ally, the Janata Dal (United), was ahead in 16 seats.
BIHAR IN THE BAG
The NDA appears to be sweeping Bihar. The ruling coalition is leading in 38 of the 40 seats in the State.
The BJP and the Janata Dal (United) are ahead in 16 seats each. Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is leading in six seats. As per the seat-sharing pact, while the BJP and JD(U) contested 17 seats each, LJP fought the remaining six.
RISE IN RAJASTHAN
The BJP was ahead in 23 seats in Rajasthan while its alliance partner RLP and the Congress were leading in one seat each, according to Election Commission trends. The BJP had contested four seats and its alliance partner Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), headed by former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal, contested one seat. Of the total 25 seats, the Congress is leading in only one seat of Bharatpur.
MAKES MERRY IN MP
In Madhya Pradesh, where Congress wrested power from the BJP in the Assembly elections a few months ago, the BJP was back with a bang. Of the 29 seats, BJP is ahead in 23 while the ruling Congress could manage a lead in just six seats. Interestingly, BJP’s Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is ahead of Congress’ Digvijay Singh by a huge margin in Bhopal.
CHEERS, CHHATTISGARH
The BJP managed to script a success story in Chhattisgarh. The State which it lost to the Congress in the recently-concluded Assembly polls, saw the Modi-led NDA gain a lead in six out of nine seats. The Congress was ahead in just two.
MARKET MOOD
Markets cheered the trend, as the benchmark BSE Sensex touched 40,000 points for the first time and NSE Nifty breached the 12,000 level. The rupee appreciated 14 paise to 69.51 against the US dollar.
VOTE SHARE ON A HIGH
According to the latest figures, the BJP’s vote share was nearly 58 per cent, compared to 33 per cent for the Congress. But the figure is likely to change when final results are in. Still, the trend shows that the Modi wave has swept across geographies, caste lines, age, gender and economic status.
THOSE TRAILING
High-profile candidates currently trailing include Rahul Gandhi (Amethi), Prakash Raj (Bangalore Central) Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Nikhil Kumaraswamy (Mandya), Manoj Sinha (Ghazipur), Maneka Gandhi (Sultanpur), Mallikarjun Kharge (Gulbarga) and Veerappa Moiley (Chikkvallapur).
IN THE LEAD
Narendra Modi (Varanasi), Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad), Amit Shah (Gandhi Nagar), Sadhvi Pragya (Bhopal), Akhilesh (Azamgarh), Ravishankar Prasad (Patna), Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), Sumalatha (Mandya), Tejashvi Surya (Bengaluru South), Karti Chidambaram (Sivaganga), Gautam Gambhir (East Delhi).