Updates: I will not do anything for myself — Modi’s promise for second term as PM
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Updates: I will not do anything for myself — Modi’s promise for second term as PM

ThePrint tracks the trends and the Election Commission to bring you the latest on who won, who lost and who will form the new govt this Lok Sabha election.

ThePrint Team    
PM Modi

Narendra Modi delivering the victory speech to BJP workers at the party headquarters in New Delhi | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

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New Delhi: Narendra Modi is all set for another five years as Prime Minister as the BJP strode back to power with a massive win.

According to the Election Commission website at 10 pm, BJP had won 162 seats and was leading in 141. Congress had managed to bag 31 seats and was ahead in 21 seats.

Read all the updates on the vote count for Thursday here:

09:45pm: BJP is leading in 19 of Bengal’s 42 seats, a huge gain from two in 2014. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is ahead in 22 seats.

ThePrint’s Moushumi Das Gupta reports on how BJP managed its stunning capture of West Bengal.

09:25pm: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Karge was defeated by BJP’s Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes,  this was the first electoral loss in Kharge’s political life spanning several decades.

09:15pm: Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir emerged victorious from East Delhi. Contesting on a BJP ticket, Gambhir secured close to seven lakh votes to easily defeat seasoned politician Arvinder Singh ‘Lovely’ from Congress and AAP’s Atishi Marlena.

However, Olympic medallist Vijender Singh, who quit his Haryana police job to contest on a Congress ticket, lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP’s Raghav Chadha.

08:55pm: BJP president Amit Shah was declared elected from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes against his nearest Congress rival C J Chavda.

08:50pm: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wins Congress bastion Raebareli, defeats BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh.

08:49pm: Watch ThePrint’s associate editor Manasi Phadke explain the implications of BJP-Shiv Sena win in Maharashtra

08:45pm: BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi beats Congress’ Ajay Maken in New Delhi constituency.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wins Jaipur Rural seat.

08:37pm: In Jammu and Kashmir, BJP & NC set to win 3 seats each. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti heading towards a humiliating loss in her hitherto south Kashmir bastion.

08:36pm: The spirit of our democracy and constitution gives us the responsibility to run country by taking everyone along, says PM Modi.

08:35pm: We have to look ahead and take everybody along including our rivals, says PM Modi.

08:30pm: I will not do anything with bad intentions, I will not do anything for myself: PM Modi

08:26pm: There will only be two castes left in the country and from now the focus will be on them. One caste is of the poor and other group is the one who will contribute to eliminating poverty in India. We will have to empower both the groups: PM Modi

08:20pm: PM Modi says this was the first election where price rise and corruption were not issues.

08:18pm: People chant Modi, Modi, Modi but this isn’t Modi’s victory but a win of people’s hope and aspirations, says PM Modi.

08:13pm: PM Modi says, “This is highest voter turnout Indian has seen. World will have to recognise India’s democratic strength.”

08:05pm: “If anyone has won today, it is India. If anyone has won today, it is democracy,” says PM Modi to BJP party workers.

08:00pm: We had gone to people seeking mandate to build a new India. People have given us their blessings for it, says PM Modi.

07:56pm: PM Modi says the election was fought by the country’s citizens.

07:45pm: Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi says nearly 20,600 VVPATs are counted as per the process. A total of 2500 have been counted till now.

07:34pm: Modi superhero of BJP’s super victory, says Amit Shah.

‘It is victory of people, it is a victory of PM Modi’s Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas (with all, development for all) policy,’ says BJP president.

He says BJP has got more than 50 per cent votes in 17 states.

07:30pm: BJP president Amit Shah addresses party workers at BJP headquarters.

“The most historic win after independence has been delivered by the BJP under PM Modi’s leadership. It is a matter of pride for us,” says Shah.

07:15pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the BJP headquarters. Several other party leaders also present at the venue.

07:00pm: After a brief press conference, Rahul Gandhi tweets:

06:51pm: The DMK-led front, which also comprises Congress and the IUML, is set for a clean sweep and is poised to win 37 of 38 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu with the lone seat appearing to go to the AIADMK.

Read ThePrint’s Rohini Swamy report — Stalin’s DMK returns to the top in Tamil Nadu, BJP nowhere in sight.

06:49pm: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National ConferenceFarooq Abdullah wins Srinagar seat by over 70,000 votes.

Lokjanshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan won from Jamui Lok Sabha seat in Bihar defeating Bhudeb Choudhary of RLSP by 2,41,049 votes.

06:41pm: Wishes pour in from leaders of several countries for PM Modi.

Australian PM, Israeli PM, French President, Maldives President, Sri Lankan PM, Mauritius PM called PM Narendra Modi to congratulate him, reports ANI.

06:35pm: Modi govt was much more efficient in delivering welfare programmes than UPA & kept inflation down — Read Shekhar Gupta’s quick takeaways from the 2019 election verdict.

06:20pm: Congress dismisses reports of Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as party chief. In a statement, the party said:

“Reports of resignation of Shri Rahul Gandhi as Congress President are mischievous and incorrect. When asked a question in the press conference today about affixation of responsibility post defeat, Shri Rahul Gandhi said “Its between me and the party and me and the CWC.”

06:13pm: PM Modi drops ‘chowkidar’ from his Twitter profile.

06:10pm: Arun Jaitley terms BJP-led NDA’s victory as ‘miraculous win’.

In a series of tweets, Jaitley said that fake issues raised by the opposition have not worked and the final results are in the same direction as the exit poll predictions.

06:00pm: Priyanka Gandhi was present during the Congress press conference addressed by Rahul Gandhi.

05:45pm: Today is not the day to go into the details for our defeat, says Rahul Gandhi at a press conference.

05:40pm: Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy says elections results were ‘unexpected’ after JD(S)-Congress alliance’s dismal performance in the state. The latest trends show BJP was leading in 24 out of 28 seats in Karnataka.

05:20pm: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi on BJP’s victory.

05:00pm: JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda trails by 13,187 votes.

04:48pm: Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan wins Gorakhpur for BJP.

Read Aditi Vatsa’s report on how he won the seat — with Bhojpuri glamour & cry against caste politics.

04:45pm: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut says nobody can counter Modi for the next 25 years.

“The truth has to be accepted that no one could counter Modi. Today’s mandate is such that no one can counter (Modi) for the next 25 years,” Raut said.

04:30pm: Samajwadi Party candidate and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav trailing by 26,826 votes from Kannauj.

04:23pm: Trends show BJP to secure a large majority. ThePrint’s editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta explains what this could mean for other parties.

04:20pm: Hema Malini, BJP candidate from candidate, leading by over 2 lakh votes.

RJD candidate and Lalu Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti trailing by 1352 votes from Pataliputra.

04:15pm: Actor Prakash Raj ,who is contesting as an independent candidate, is trailing by 572,363 votes from Bangalore Central seat.

04:00pm: Watch ThePrint’s assistant editor Pragya Kaushika speak to BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who was in charge of BJP in West Bengal.

03:50pm: BJP chief Amit Shah at the party headquarters after latest trends show BJP is heading towards a massive victory.

ThePrint | Photo: Manisha Mondal

03:45pm: ‘India wins yet again,’ tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as BJP set to form government for another term.

He also congratulated Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and Andhra Pradesh’s YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy on their victories.

03:30pm: Rahul Gandhi leading by over 12 lakh margin in Wayanad, the other constituency he is contesting from besides his traditional seat, Amethi.

03:15pm: Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his election victory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also extended his wishes to Modi.

“I am convinced that, as the Prime Minister of India, you will further strengthen the centuries-old friendship between our peoples and the all-round development of a particularly privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India,” Putin said in a congratulatory message, reports PTI.

03:10pm: The tally stands at:

02:59pm: BJP president Amit Shah has tweeted a graphic for PM Modi, in which he says that this victory is vindication for the “youth, the old, and the aspirations of farmers.”

“This significant victory is testament to five years of development and strong governance by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,” Shah says.

02:34pm: Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik is set to return to power for a fifth consecutive term with his party comfortably ahead in the assembly elections, ThePrint’s Moushumi Das Gupta reports.

The BJD is leading in 108 seats of Odisha’s 147, while its closest competitor Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 25 seats, show CNN-News18 trends.

02:31pm: BJP’s Pragya Thakur is miles ahead in Bhopal with a lead of over 1,56,000 votes.

02:29pm: Congress president Rahul Gandhi continues to trail in Amethi, coming up 11,226 votes short behind the BJP’s Smriti Irani, ANI reports.

02:25pm: Earlier today, The Republic’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, while speaking about Sunny Deole’s lead in Gurdaspur, Punjab, accidentally took the name of Sunny Leone instead.

The actress took to Twitter to reply, “by How many votes? (sic)” she asked.

02:18pm: Meanwhile, Pakistan has sent a ‘message’ to PM Modi, choosing the day of his poll sweep to test-fire a nuclear missile, ThePrint’s defence correspondent Snehesh Alex Philip reports.

Pakistan tested ballistic missile Shaheen-II, which has a range of 1,500 km. Indian security experts say that the timing of the test clear signal to new government.

02:15pm: The ECI website is back up.

02:12pm: National General Secretary, BJP, Ram Madhav tweets that his party is all set to form the government for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh with a current lead of 43 out of 60 seats in the state.

02:09pm: The Election Commission of India’s website is temporarily down.

02:06pm: More congratulations pour in for PM Modi. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, whose three-and-a-half-year-old alliance with the BJP ended unceremoniously in 19 June, tweets that “Today surely belongs to the BJP and it’s allies. (sic)”

“Time for Congress to get an Amit Shah,” she said.

Shah Faesal, the former Kashmiri IAS officer who resigned to launch the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement party, also tweets that “the mandate must be respected.”

“We in J&K are hopeful that tempers will be allowed to calm down,” Faesal adds.

https://twitter.com/shahfaesal/status/1131464539910750209

01:57pm: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday congratulates his “friend” PM Modi  for his “impressive victory” in the 2011 general elections.

“The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the world’s largest democracy,” he wrote.

Netanyahu visited India in January 2018 while PM Modi traveled to Tel Aviv in 2017, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to tour the Jewish state, PTI reports.

01:55pm: As per ECI data, things are getting tougher for Rahul Gandhi in Amethi as Smriti Irani leaps ahead with a lead of over 10,000 votes.

01:51pm: The BJP is for a clear victory in Himachal Pradesh as party candidates are leading by over 3.15 lakh votes, PTI reports.

Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur told ThePrint’s political editor D.K. Singh in May that while many central and state govt schemes have had ‘great success’, a ‘strong India under Modi’ is what matters. Read the report here.

01:42pm: “But all losers are not losers,” tweets TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, adding that the party will only share its views after a “complete review.”

As of late Thursday afternoon, TMC was leading in 22 seats in West Bengal, while the BJP was close behind at 19. The Left was nowhere near in sight, recording leads in zero seats, NDTV numbers say.

01:40pm: Watch ThePrint’s associate editor Manasi Phadke LIVE in #ThePrintVerdict, discussing the Maharashtra trends. The NDA leads in 41 out of 48 seats in the state.

01:38pm: Aam Aadmi Party congratulates the BJP for its victory in Delhi, and said it hopes that PM Narendra Modi would do “good work” in his future tenure, PTI reports.

“In democracy, mandate of the people is considered to be very powerful. We respect the mandate of India and congratulate the BJP for its victory. We offer Prime Minister Narendra Modi best wishes for his future tenure. We hope he would do good work in his future tenure,” Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharwaj said.

01:35pm: Amid what is proving to be a tough fight for Rahul Gandhi against BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi, Congress leader and East UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen driving to the home of her brother Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, NDTV reports.

Rahul Gandhi is trailing by 5,727 votes in Amethi, as per ECI figures.

01:25pm: The national tally stands at:

01:23pm: YS Jaganmohan Reddy is all set to sweep Andhra Pradesh from under current CM Chandrababu Naidu, with YSRCP recording a perfect 10/10 win in the Lok Sabha elections and a decisive lead in 147 of the state’s 175 assembly seats.

01:18pm: ‘Rebel’ Shatrughan Sinha loses to Ravi Shankar Prasad by a massive 1,13,531 margin as Patna Sahib sticks with BJP, Dipak Mishra reports.

Counting has ended in the constituency, however, results are yet to be formally declared.

01:12pm: BJP’s Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family, is leading in Rajsamand seat by 4,08,438 votes, ECI states.

In an interview with ThePrint’s Pragya Kaushika in May, ‘princess’ Kumar said that there is no rift between her and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, and that she “is willing to take up any role she is given by the party.”

01:09pm: YS Jaganmohan Reddy of the YSRCP set to take oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister on May 30, YSRCP leader Ummareddy Venkateswarlu tells ANI.

01:04pm: Failing to capitalise on the momentum built in their December 2018 assembly poll victories, Congress trails in Rajasthan with leads in only 1 of 25 seats, Madhya Pradesh with 1 of 29 and Chhattisgarh with 2 of 11.

12:58pm: It appears that Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has already declared victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tweeting “Congratulations to #NarendraModi on a magnificent victory!”

12:54pm: BJP likely to sweep the national capital, with Aam Aadmi Party emerging a distant third on 5 of the 7 seats.

AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi records a vote-share of 18 per cent, while former cricketer and BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir is leading with 52 per cent.

In May, Atishi had accused Gambhir of distributing an abusive pamphlet, in which she had been called a “prostitute”. Gambhir however, denied the charge.

A desolate and empty AAP office in Delhi | ThePrint photo by Suraj Singh Bisht

12:52pm: Meanwhile, Pragya Thakur’s lead in Bhopal crosses 1,21,420, ECI data states.

12:47pm: In Maharashtra, despite the NDA stamping its presence across leads in 44 seats, the Aurangabad constituency surprises with a lead for All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen candidate Imtiyaz Jaleel.

In 2014, the seat went to Chandrakant Khaire of the Shiv Sena.

12:40pm: Poll tally stands at:

12:38pm: With 289 seats and counting (NDTV), BJP crosses majority mark without allies.

12:36pm: Watch #ThePrintVerdict LIVE, as ThePrint’s political editor D.K. Singh and national affairs editor Jyoti Malhotra discuss the implications of the latest trends in the 2019 general election.

12:33pm: Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, leads by 94,327 votes from Hyderabad, ECI numbers state.

12:31pm: As YSR Congress Party remains in the lead in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections with 149 seats, current CM N Chandrababu Naidu is likely to tender his resignation later today, ANI reports.

12:24pm: Amit Shah leads by a substantial margin of 3,30,000 seats in Gandhinagar.

12:19pm: In West Bengal, despite the spirited efforts of Trinamool Congress founder and current CM Mamata Banerjee to take the Modi-Shah duo head-on, the BJP leads in 19 seats. The BJP had won just two seats — Asansol and Darjeeling — in 2014.

12:13pm: As the NDA remains in front with 324 seats, ThePrint’s political editor D.K. Singh reports on ‘Why Modi has reasons to be anxious as he prepares for a second term in office.’

“The Balakot air strikes against Pakistan to ‘avenge’ the Pulwama terror attack helped the Modi government to paper over its failures on the economic front — adverse impact of demonetisation, joblessness, sluggish exports and manufacturing, lack of private investment and farm distress, among others,” the report reads.

12:05pm: In Rampur, UP, SP’s Azam Khan leads by 45,237 votes over his former protégé and BJP candidate Jaya Prada.

In April, the Election Commission of India banned the nine-time Rampur MLA from campaigning for 72 hours for the Lok Sabha elections over his sexist and derogatory remarks against opponent Jaya Prada.

Speaking at a rally, Azam Khan had said: “People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But I could recognise it in 17 days that she wears ‘khaki’ underwear.”

12:01pm: SP’s Akhilesh Yadav leading by 45,023 votes from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He is up against BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav — one of the most successful Bhojpuri actors in India.

11:59am: In Haryana, the NDA has established a lead in 9 of 10 seats. The Congress just leads in one, Economic Times reports.

11:56am: PM Modi has called for a meeting with BJP workers at party office at 5.30 pm today, ANI reports.

11:53am: As per the Elections Commission of India data, BJD leading in 14 of the 21 seats in Odisha.

Sambit Patra, one of BJP’s star contenders, is leading by 800 votes against BJD’s Pinaki Misra in Puri, Odisha.

11:52am: BJP workers are celebrating at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

The BJP headquarters in New Delhi on the day of the 2019 Lok Sabha election results | ThePrint photo by Manisha Mondal

11:51am: Speaking to ANI about trends that are putting her in a comfortable lead, BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur says, “Nischit meri vijay hogi, meri vijay mein dharm ki vijay hogi, adharm ka naash hoga. Mein Bhopal ki janta ka aabhaar deti hun.” (My victory will be confirmed, and in my victory there will be the victory of my religion and the defeat of disbelief. I am grateful to the people of Bhopal

11:48am: According to India Today, PM Modi campaigned in 145 seats and the trends show he has had a 72% strike rate.

11:46am: Watch ThePrint’s Kritika Sharma reporting LIVE from the Congress Office as the 2019 Lok Sabha election results unfold.

11:40am: In Guna, considered to be Congress bastion that elected the party in 2014, INC candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia trails by 39,303 votes.

The MP is hugely popular in Guna, but while voters said they will back him, it’s Narendra Modi they want to see back as prime minister, Ruhi Tewari reported in May from Madhya Pradesh.

11:35am: BJP leader and official party spokesperson Sambit Patra is leading by over 700 votes from Odisha’s Puri Lok Sabha Constituency, ANI reports.

11:32am : In Madhya Pradesh, BJP leads in 28, while Congress mere in 1 Lok Sabha seat – PTI

11:29am: BJP’s Kirron Kher leads in Chandigarh by a mere 1,514 votes in what is proving to be a close fight with INC’s Pawan Kumar Bansal.

At 11:20 am, the NDA stays stable at 324 seats, crossing the halfway mark (272) in the Lok Sabha by a decisive 52 seats.

11:20am: In Amethi,Congress President Rahul Gandhi trails by 7,638 votes behind BJP’s Smriti Irani, in what could be an unprecedented upset for the Gandhi family.

In 2014, Irani put up a spirited fight, bringing down his victory margin from well over 3 lakh in 2009 to a little over 1 lakh votes.

In Wayanad, Kerala, however, Rahul Gandhi has a more than comfortable lead of 1,20,000 votes. When the Congress President announced he was standing from the second seat in late March, the BJP felt the move had given “extra ammunition to target him”, claiming he is scared of losing Amethi.

11:11am: BJP’s surprise candidate from Gurdaspur in Punjab, Sunny Deol leads by 40,523 votes. Deol is one of the last few Bollywood superstars to enter the political fray, announcing his candidacy in late April.

Read Ruhi Tewari’s opinion on ‘Why Indian politics can’t do without Bollywood stars and their readymade support base.‘

“Had netas been doing their work, I wouldn’t need to be here,” Sunny Deol told ThePrint’s Chitleen Sethi in May.

11:10am: Meanwhile, in the Andhra Pradesh assembly election, the YSR Congress Party leads in 138 of 166 seats, ECI reports.

11:09am: NDA candidates ahead in 35 of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, PTI reports.

11:05am: Zee News says there are 12 states now in India where Congress is not leading in even one seat.

11:04am: Former minister of state for Information and Broadcasting and Congress leader  Manish Tewari leads by 11,302 votes from Anandpur Sahib, Punjab.

Watch his interview with ThePrint’s Chitleen Sethi, in which he said that said that the people of Chandigarh have no appetite for PM Modi’s divisive and sectarian politics.

11:00am: Poll tally stands at:

10:59am: Congress’ Shatrughan Sinha, known for repeatedly breaking his ‘khaamoshi’ on issues of national importance, trails by 36,205 votes from Patna Sahib in Bihar.

Watch the interview of the actor-turned-politician interview with ThePrint’s Neelam Pandey, in which he says that ‘The best thing about BJP manifesto is the new black jacket Modi is wearing.’

10:50am: The BJP-led NDA is seeing a clean sweep in Mumbai (6 seats) and Delhi (7 seats), ECI reports.

10:49am: Communist Party of India’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who is standing from former socialist bastion of Begusarai in Bihar, is trailing with 75,440 behind the BJP’s Giriraj Singh, ECI reports.

Read this opinion on why Kanhaiya Kumar is a symbol of status quo in Begusarai, the ‘Leningrad of Bihar,’ by ThePrint’s Dilip Mandal.

10:48am: Rahul Gandhi leads in Wayanad, Kerala with over 1,24,537 votes. Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor’s lead in Thiruvananthapuram increases to 13,712. Kerala appears to be the only state swinging in favour of the INC.

10:45am: Poll figures stand at:

10:44am: In Gandhinagar, BJP party president Amit Shah leads by 1,38,738 votes, according to the ECI tally. Watch Pragya Kaushika’s interview with Gujarat BJP incharge Bharat Pandya, talking about how ‘BJP workers in Gandhinagar are working as hard as Amit Shah.’

10:43am: Samajwadi Party’s Akshay Yadav trails by 10,227 votes from Firozabad. Yadav won the seat in 2014.

10:39am: With early trends suggesting a comfortable victory for the BJP-led NDA alliance, Sensex hits the 40,000 mark for the first time, rallies nearly 900 points. NIFTY crosses 12,000 points, reports PTI.

10:35am: ECI indicates a clean sweep for the BJP in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

10:34am: Bhojpuri sensation and BJP candidate Ravi Kishan leads by 56,887 votes in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, ECI reports.

10:25am: Samajwadi Party heavyweight Azam Khan is 2,212 ahead of former Bollywood actor Jaya Prada in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, ECI reports.

The fight in Rampur is also a personal one, as Azam Khan was once Jaya Prada’s teacher and mentor, during her political stint with the SP from 2004 to 2014.

To read how Azam Khan maintains his notorious grip over Rampur: With fear, insecurity, polarisation, click here.

10:21am: Congress candidate Urmila Matondkar trails by 42,820 votes in Mumbai North, ECI says. Meanwhile, for fellow Bollywood star and BJP candidate Hema Malini, things are looking up in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, as she leads by 16,486 votes.

10:17am: In Assam, BJP leads in 12 of 14 seats, according to ABP news.

To understand ‘Why do so many women voters in Assam like PM Modi?’, watch this ground report by ThePrint’s Ruhi Tewari.

10:16am: In the national capital, Delhi, BJP surges ahead in all 7 seats, Economic Times reports. BJP’s Bhojpuri Manoj Tiwari leads by 17,663 votes over former Delhi CM and Congress candidate Sheila Dikshit, ECI reports.

North East Delhi, which votes with the rest of the national capital on 12 May, is set for a three-pronged battle. Tiwari, the sitting MP, faces another Purvanchali candidate, AAP’s Dilip Pandey, who is originally from Gazipur in UP, and the Congress’ three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

Read the story behind Manoj Tiwari’s rise in Delhi, and the growing clout of the Purvanchali migrant vote, by ThePrint’s Fatima Khan.

10:14am: BJP ahead in 23 seats in Rajasthan, PTI reports.

10:12am: BJP leads in Jammu and Kashmir with 3, Congress follows with 2 seats, and an independent with one, ECI says. The state has 6 Lok Sabha seats.

10:09am: In Asanol, West Bengal, BJP’s Babul Supriyo leads by 32,399 votes over Trinamool’s Moon Moon Sen, reports ECI.

10:05am: Congress’ Shashi Tharoor leads by 4,956 votes in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, says ECI.

10:01am: Congress president Rahul Gandhi trails in his party stronghold Amethi by 2,176 votes, says ECI. The constituency has historically voted for the INC. Read how Rahul and Sonia Gandhi retain Amethi and Rae Bareli in a report by ThePrint.

09:55am: BJP’s controversial candidate Pragya Singh Thakur leads in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh by 25,000 votes, ECI says. She is up against Congress’ Digvijay Singh.

09:54am: Congress sweep in Kerala, NDTV reports, adding that the total Congress tally across India stands at 72.

09:51am: PM Narendra Modi leading by over 20,000 votes from UP’s Varanasi, while BJP President Amit Shah leading by over 50,000 votes from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, ANI reports.

09:53am: Congress sweeps Kerala, reports NDTV.

09:50am: Latest numbers as they stand at 9:45am.

09:43am: Congress’ Shatrughan Sinha trails by 4,086 votes in Patna Sahib, Bihar, BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad takes the lead: EC website

09:41am: BJP leads in 2 seats in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress in one: EC website.

09:36am: BJP makes clean sweep in Jharkhand, reports ABP.

09:34am: H.D. Devegowda trails by 1,196 votes in Tumkur, as per EC website.

09:30am: Election Commission website says Sonia Gandhi trails by 1,050 votes in Rae Bareli.

09:25am: Sonia Gandhi trailing by 600 votes in Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi trailing again by 6,000 votes, reports Zee News.

09:23am: Election Commission website puts BJP lead at 198 seats and Congress at 53.

09:19am: ABP reports BJP crosses the majority mark with 275.

09:15am: Rahul Gandhi leads by 200 votes in Amethi: NDTV

09:12am: Latest numbers as they stand at 8.30.am.

09:06am: BJP’s Giriraj Singh leads by 58,335 votes in Begusarai, Bihar, against CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar: ABP

09:04am: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur leads by 10,000 votes in Bhopal: ABP

09:01am: Rahul Gandhi trailing in Amethi by 2,000 votes, leading in Wayanad by 20,817: ABP

09:00am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads by 3,71,784 in Varanasi: Election Commission.

 

08:48am: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur leads by 2,000 votes in Bhopal: ABP

08:46am: Yogendra Yadav says the only question is will the BJP win a majority on its own? At the moment it seems it might fall a little short: NDTV

08:39am: Counting has stopped in Amethi due to technical glitch: CNN-News18

08:34am: Amit Shah leading by 25,000 votes in Gandhinagar: ABP

08:21am: Rahul Gandhi leading in Wayanad in Kerala: CNN-News18

08:14am: BJP leading in 13 seats in Karnataka: ABP News

08:11am: Congress leading in Bengaluru rural: CNN-News18

08:09am:

08:02am: Counting of votes begins, BJP first to open its account: News-18

07:56am: The United States Wednesday said that it was confident in the fairness and integrity of the Indian elections and would work with whoever is the winner. “We are very confident in the fairness and the integrity of the Indian elections, and we will obviously work with whoever is the victor and whatever the outcome is there,” PTI quoted State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus as saying.

07:48am:

07:40am:

07:38am: Keep track of the counting with ThePrint.

07:35am:

07:30am: With half-an-hour to go before the counting starts at 8 am, ThePrint takes a look at the election season so far. Watch here:

07:28am: Congress candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha seat Ajay Maken tells ANI the results will be definitely in favour of Congress. “We’re expecting that Congress will win & form govt. Rahul Gandhi will be the PM. The fight in Delhi is between BJP and Congress,” he said.

07:09am:

 

06:50am: The home ministry issued a notice to all states and Union Territories to prepare for possible violence in parts of the country, stating that calls for stoking tensions had been given, news agencies reported. According to a Hindustan Times report, the ministry statement specifically mentioned Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura.

06:30am: The Election Commission Wednesday rejected the demand of 22 political parties to count paper trail (VVPAT) machine slips before the counting of votes polled in electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying it has not been found “feasible”.

The Election Commission has been under fire from opposition parties, which claim that the poll body has been making decision that favour PM Modi and his BJP party.

Voting in the election was staggered between April 11 and May 19 in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha from a total of 8,049 contestants.

For the first time in Lok Sabha polls, the EC will tally vote count on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with voter verified paper audit trail slips in five polling stations in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency.

It will effectively mean that out of nearly 10.3 lakh polling stations, the EVM-VVPAT matching will take place in 20,600 such stations.

In case of a mismatch, the results based on paper slip count will be considered as final.

The entire exercise of EVM-paper trail machine matching is expected to take an additional four to five hours, EC officials said.