Counting of votes for the Indian general election 2014 has begun. In very early leads the BJP has made the most propitious beginning, leading in about 111 of the 201 constituencies for which trends are already available.
The Congress is ahead in 49 but, importantly, seems to be trailing in seats it had won last time.
It must be emphasised that these are very early trends and can change.
The marathon six-week parliamentary election saw a 66 per cent voter turnout, a new record; 55.16 crore people voted in 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Before a single vote was counted, posters appeared overnight across Varanasi congratulating Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, for his victory. Mr Modi has contested from Varanasi. Exit polls show he is likely to be India’s next prime minister
Mr Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, is in Gandhinagar today and is not expected to move out of his residence till results are known. He has also contested from Vadodara in his state.
In Amethi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s constituency, there is heavy deployment of security. It is not known yet whether Mr Gandhi, who fronted the Congress’ campaign, will visit Amethi today.
His party, the exit polls say, faces its worst ever defeat after 10 years in power. The Congress’ chief spokesperson Ajay Maken said this morning that the party was not “willing to concede defeat,” but said he took “responsibility for failure of the Congress media strategy.”
The BJP is taking exit poll predictions seriously. Party president Rajnath Singh has held many discussions over two days to shape a post-election strategy should the alliance his party leads get the clear majority that exit polls say it will.
On Thursday, workers at the flower-festooned New Delhi headquarters of the BJP passed around traditional sweets and chanted tributes to Mr Modi. BJP workers said they brought in two car-loads of fireworks, while 20 chefs from Delhi’s famous Chandni Chowk worked to meet a target of preparing 1 lakh laddoos.
The BJP’s best showing so far was in elections in 1998 and 1999 when it won 182 seats and ran the country until a shock defeat at the hands of the Congress in 2004. NDTV’s exit polls say this time the party alone could get 235 seats.
