India: Modi’s BJP may fall short of majority. Election results 2024 live
● Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition is leading as India counts votes. But trends so far suggest the BJP might fall short of a majority on its own as a united opposition led by the Indian National Congress makes gains.
● The mammoth seven-phase election – the world’s largest democratic exercise – began on April 19 and ended on Saturday.
● A party or coalition needs 272 seats to cross the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament. Exit polls said Modi could return to power for a third consecutive term.
● The Election Commission says a record-breaking 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered election as it dismissed opposition concerns over how the votes would be counted.
● However, the voter turnout this year was 66.3 percent, about one percentage point lower than 2019.