New Delhi: With a determined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking a second term in power and an opposition equally resolute to deny that, early trends of the Lok Sabha election results show the National Democratic Alliance crossing the majority mark, leading in 274 of the 543 seats, as against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s lead in 90 seats.
To be sure, these numbers are part of very early trends, mostly from postal ballots which were opened first.
Results data gathered by CNN News18 show the BJP alone is leading in 226 seats, while Congress is leading in 57.
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The numbers are constantly changing as counting progresses but broad trends show the NDA has taken a comfortable lead. Most exit poll results Sunday had predicted an easy majority for the NDA, with Congress securing seats in two digits.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Narendra Modi-led BJP stormed to power, winning 282 seats on its own, while the Congress suffered its worst ever drubbing, going down to just 44 seats.
Crucial states
In all three heartland states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — which the BJP lost to the Congress in the 2018 assembly polls, the former is leading. In Rajasthan, the NDA is leading in 21 of the 25 seats; in Madhya Pradesh, it is ahead in 20 of the 29 seats. In Chhattisgarh, it is close with both BJP and Congress leading in five.
The most crucial state this election is Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is pitted against a Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. So far, trends show the NDA ahead in 35 seats and the alliance in three.
In West Bengal and Odisha, two states where the BJP had negligible presence but is hoping to make enough gains to compensate for potential losses elsewhere, the party is on the lower side. While it is leading on four seats in West Bengal’s 42 as against Trinamool Congress’ 14, both the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal are leading in one seat each in Odisha’s 21.