Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is maintaining edge with leads in 289 seats, while the Congress-led opposition alliance INDIA putting up a strong show with leads in 236 seats as per early trends in the counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India available at 1 PM (IST).
The news led to a bloodbath in India’s stock market, with Sensex, the flagship index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) crashing by a whipping 4,100 points in early trading hours on Tuesday.
Counting began on Tuesday morning after a gruelling election that was held in seven phases, staggered between April 11 and May 19.
The majority mark is 272 in the 543-member Lower House, known as the Lok Sabha. The House also has two nominated members.
Trends show the INDIA bloc making strong gains in crucial states such as Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Maharashtra, while holding on to strong gains in many other states.
In UP, early trends point to a resurgence for the opposition SP-Congress alliance, with it locked in a neck-and-neck fight with leads in 39 seats, while BJP leads in 40 seats.
In Maharashtra, the opposition grouping of Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SC) is ahead in 26 seats, while the BJP-led Mahayuti is leading in 20.
Rout in stock market
The stock markets have plunged amid early indications of no clear majority for the BJP, as opposed to a massive victory predicted by almost all exit polls on Saturday.
Adani Group stocks are in focus today as its shares have tanked between 5-10 percent in early trading hours.
India’s volatility index VIX, which fell near 15 percent in the previous session, has advanced 16.19 percent at 24.37.
Early on Monday, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 hit all-time highs after most of the exit polls suggested a return of the BJP government with a thumbing majority.
As per the Election Commission of India, 642 million voters, including 312 million women, participated in the 2024 General Elections to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha from over 8,000 candidates from more than 700 parties.
A clear picture of who will form the new government is likely to emerge by evening shaping India’s growth story for next five years.
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