23 May,2019 10:09 AM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online desk
Representational image
New Delhi: The BJP appeared set for a resounding comeback on Thursday with leads in 269 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 51, according to trends available with the Election Commission for 495 of 542 Lok Sabha seats. As votes for the seven-phase parliamentary polls were counted on Thursday, the DMK was ahead in 20 seats, the Janata Dal-United in 15, the Trinamool Congress in 20 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 12 and its ally Samajwadi Party in eight seats, according to the poll panel.
Television channels showed the BJP surging ahead with leads in more than 320 seats. As the trends came in, pointing to another tenure of Narendra Modi as prime minister, there were reports of celebrations in the BJP's party offices across the country. 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.
ALSO READ
'Ensure local body election in Ahmednagar conducted in 'right earnest''
Karnataka results won't affect Lok Sabha, Maharashtra elections: CM Shinde
NCP to start preparations for Maharashtra elections
Manipur: Woman killed after getting caught in crossfire
West Bengal: Junior doctors' stir over RG Kar horror to continue despite SC direction
In 2014, the BJP won 282 seats, leaving the Congress with an all-time low of 44 seats against the 206 it won in 2009. The counting exercise is on in over 4,000 counting centres amid concerns raised by opposition parties over alleged tampering of EVMs. They have asked the Election Commission to ensure transparency in counting. Election Commission officials said results are expected only by late evening. The voting 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.
The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday alerted all state chief secretaries and directors general of police about the possibility of eruption of violence in different parts of the country during counting of votes. "This is in the wake of calls given and statements made in various quarters for inciting violence and causing disruption on the day of counting of votes," a Home Ministry statement said.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates