The BJP was set for a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, its candidates taking early leads in 265 of the 498 seats in two hours of vote count across the country. The Congress, India’s oldest political party which had ruled India for a decade since 2004 at the head of the UPA, appeared set for an unprecedented rout.
The BJP was Friday set for a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, its candidates taking early leads in 265 of the 498 seats in two hours of vote count across the country. The Congress, India’s oldest political party which had ruled India for a decade since 2004 at the head of the UPA, appeared set for an unprecedented rout. Information from the Election Commission indicated a BJP sweep in northern, western and central India, and the party was also making gains in states where it has been traditionally weak.
Here’s a minute-to-minute update and poll analysis of all that is happening today:
5:14 pm: DNA reports that Narayan Rane, Minister for Industries in the Maharashtra state government, has resigned after his son Nilesh Rane’s defeat at the hands of Shiv Sena candidate Vinayak Raut. Nilesh Raut was the sitting MP of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
5:12 pm: BJP wins both Lok Sabha seats in Goa by defeating the Congress in both the parliamentary constituencies. Sitting MP and BJP candidate Sripad Naik won in North Goa defeating Congress’ Ravi Naik, while Congress’ Aleixo Lourenco Reginaldo lost to BJP’s Narendra Sawaikar in South Goa.
5:09 pm: Sonia Gandhi said: “We with all humility accept the mandate of the people and hope that the new government at the centre will uphold the unity and interests of the country.”
“As president I take responsibility for the defeat,” she said and also congratulated the new government without naming BJP leader Narendra Modi, who is set to become the new prime minister of India.
5:08 pm: Sushma Swaraj, who has been vocally critical of Narendra Modi ever since he was elevated as the face of the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, has retained Vidisha by a margin of over four lakh votes. She defeated Lakshman Singh, brother of Congress leader and Gandhi acolyte Digvijay Singh
5:06 pm: Meenakshi Natarajan, one of Rahul Gandhi’s closest aides, has lost the Mandour seat by over 3 lakh votes.
4:40 pm: Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma lost to BJP’s Kirti Vardhan Singh by over 2 lakh votes
4:35 pm: People’s verdict was against us: Sonia Gandhi
4:30 pm: Rahul Gandhi addresses press after Congress defeat, says he is responsible for the party’s defeat.
4:25 pm: The Aam Aadmi Party made inroads into Punjab’s political scene even as the BJP gained in neighbouring Haryana and Chandigarh.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley was the big loss for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine in Punjab. He was defeated by former chief minister and Congress candidate Amarinder Singh by nearly one lakh votes.
The AAP won the Sangrur seat where its candidate, actor-comedian Bhagwant Mann, was elected, defeating former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Akali Dal) and sitting MP Vijay Inder Singla (Congress). Mann was ahead of Dhindsa by over 2.1 lakh votes.
4:15 pm: In Uttar Pradesh, biggest lead margin emerges from riot hit Muzaffarnagar – in BJP’s favour.
4:10 pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad loses to BJP’s Jitendra Singh by 60,976 votes
4:07 pm: Telecom scam tainted A. Raja of the DMK party lost his Nilgiris Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu to AIADMK’s Gopalakrishnan by a margin of over 1,04,000 votes.
4:05 pm: Jaswant Singh loses in Barmer to BJP’s Col Sonaram Choudhary
4:00 pm: Election Commission figures say that in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is currently leading by around 5000 votes. Actual EC figures: Rahul Gandhi (INC) 205,173; Smriti Irani (BJP): 158311; Dharmendra Pratap Singh (BSP): 29202; Kumar Vishwas (AAP): 11,365.
3:59 pm: Rajnath credits Modi for party’s performance
3:58 pm: Sonia Gandhi wins Rae Bareli seat by over 3.52 Lakh votes
3:56 pm: In an embarassment to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi and his daughter Misa Bharti were trailing from Saran and Patliputra parliamentary seats in Bihar. After several rounds of counting, Rabri Devi was trailing by over 20,000 votes to Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran constituency.
3:55 pm: Sensex ends 216 points higher at 24,121 after earlier rallying 1,470 points on BJP’s big win
3:50 pm: For the first time, a person born in independent India will become the Prime Minister
3:45 pm: The Congress party has conceded defeat as early election results show a landslide win for the opposition BJP under Narendra Modi
3:40 pm: DMK’s A Raja loses in Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu to AIADMK’s C Gopalakrishnan
3:35 pm: BJP’s Chhedi Paswan defeats Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in Sasaram, Bihar by 63327 votes
3:30 pm: DMK president Karunanidhi Friday said he accepted his party’s defeat “with bowed head”. In a statement, Karunanidhi said he has conveyed his party’s wishes to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for its “massive nationwide electoral victory”. But he said the party had seen “defeats and also mega victories earlier”.
3:25 pm: In a spectacular performance, the BJP was on the victory march in 25 out of 26 seats in Gujarat, 24 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan, all four seats in Himachal Pradesh, all seven seats in Delhi and four of five in Uttarakhand.
3:20 pm: Rajnath Singh said: Initially it was said about the BJP that it was just a party for cities but now it’s also a party of villages, the poor and all sections of the society.
3:15 pm: BJP president Rajnath Singh said: I am happy and satisfied by the mandate. However, our party is aware the kind of responsbility people have put on our shoulder. This is the first time since 1984, any party has got the clear majority and the BJP has surpassed the geographical and social boundary – caste, creed and religion.
3:10 pm: Sushma Swaraj attributed the thumping victory of the party in the Lok Sabha election to the hard work of the millions of BJP workers and the “able leadership of Narendra Modi”. Sushma Swaraj, who is said to be no Modi camp follower, in a tweet said: “This victory is the result of hard labour of millions of BJP ‘karyakartas’, blessings of (Rashtriya Swayamsewak) Sangh and able leadership of Narendra Modi.” “We receive this mandate of people of India with humility and gratitude,” Sushma posted.
3:05 pm: Priya Dutt loses out to Poonam Mahajan in Bandra.
3:03 pm: Filmmaker and Janata Dal-United candidate Prakash Jha lost from the West Champaran Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. He was defeated from the constituency for the third time. Jha lost to sitting BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal.
3.00 pm: Bollywood actor-turned-politician and BJP sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha has won from the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Sinha defeated Congress candidate Kunal Singh by over one lakh votes
2:45 pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad loses to BJP’s Jatindra Singh by 60976 votes in Udhampur LS seat
2:44 pm: Shashi Tharoor wins in Thiravananthapuram
2:42 pm: K Chandrasekhar Rao of TRS wins from Medak
2:39 pm: Former Lok Sabha speaker and National People’s Party candidate Purno A Sangma and sitting Congress MP Vincent H Pala are leading in Tura and Shillong parliamentary constituencies in Meghalaya.
2:34 pm: Salman Khurshid loses his deposit after Farrukhabad defeat.
2:32 pm: Celebrations break out at BJP headquarters
Dancing to drumbeats, chanting slogans, bursting firecrackers and distributing laddoos, hundreds of BJP workers gathered at the party headquarters here Friday to celebrate the landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Armed with portrait photos of prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and wearing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s saffron-coloured caps, the crowd raised slogans of “Har Har Modi” and “Bharat Mata ki jai”. Read on
2:26 pm: LK Advani wins from Gandhinagar by over 3 lakh votes
2:24 pm: “Bad governance, corruption and dynastic rules (of Congress) were the three main reasons why BJP won this election. We have won even where we never won before. How much role (Narendra) Modi’s leadership has to play in it, how much contribution did the RSS make, has to be assessed,” said veteran LK Advani.
2:20 pm: After the massive win, Modi shares ‘Vijay Geet’
2:16 pm: BJP’s Arun Jaitley loses to in Amritsar
2:15 pm: Rediff, citing sources, reports that senior leader LK Advani has rejected the offer made to him by BJP president Rajnath Singh of the post of Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Speculation suggests that Advani will hold out for some major political role, such as chairman of the NDA.
2:10 pm: At 3.6 million votes, NOTA has scored more than RJD, DMK, SAD, CPI, BJD, JDU.
2:04 pm: None Of The Above — has been voted for 3,640,413 times. That’s 1.1% of all votes so far.
2:00 pm: Narendra Modi looks all set to win the Varanasi seat after having established an unassailable lead of nearly 1.5 lakh votes over his nearest rival AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal.
1:49 pm: Mother blesses Modi following his emphatic win
Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi met his mother Hiraben at her residence here on Friday, and sought her blessings following his emphatic win in the 2014 general elections.
1:45 pm: Narendra Modi wins Vadodara seat by record margin of 5,70,128 votes, reports PTI.
1:43 pm: Manmohan congratulates Modi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulates Narendra Modi over BJP’s victory in elections.
1:41 pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was for the first time contesting from a Lok Sabha seat from the state, was also now trailing by 31958 votes over his nearest BJP rival Jitendra Singh.
1:39 pm: Farooq Abdullah, who has never lost an election in Jammu and Kashmir, was trailing his nearest rival Tariq Hameed Karra of PDP by 21,741 votes.
1:37 pm: Modi tweets: Sought blessings from my Mother
1:35 pm: BJP’s Manoj Tiwari wins from Northeast Delhi
1:33 pm: BJP’s Uma Bharti wins from Jhansi
1:30 pm: Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress’s Meira Kumar has lost from the Sasaram constituency.
1:27 pm: BJP’s VK Singh wins from Ghaziabad by 28000 votes.
1:24 pm: Sonia Gandhi wins in Rae Bareilly
1:20 pm: Modi to take oath on May 21; Manmohan to quit tomorrow: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign tomorrow.
He will hand over his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow.
Narendra Modi set to be new prime minister. Oath-taking ceremony likely on May 21.
1:17 pm: AAP leader Yogendra Yadav congratulated BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for leading his party to victory in the Lok Sabha election.
“I congratulate Modi as people have shown their faith in him,” Yadav told reporters here.
He said the defeat of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi and Kumar Vishwas in Amethi was disappointing.
“It was our first (Lok Sabha) election. So we did not think we will sweep… We have got more than one crore votes across the country, and we have made our presence (felt).”
1:13 pm: I wish new PM well, hope govt will be friendly towards Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa
“I wish the new Govt and the new PM well, hope the new Govt will be friendly towards Tamil Nadu. Trends show the AIADMK is the 3rd largest party nationally, we will function as a responsible political party,” says Jayalalithaa.
1:10 pm: In contrast to her party’s rout in Uttar Pradesh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday seemed set to retain her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. According to election officials, she led over BJP’s Ajay Agarwal by 1.21 lakh votes.
1:07 pm: BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi led Aam Aadmi Party’s chief Arvind kejriwal in Varanasi by more than 100,000 votes, officials said. The Bharatiya Janata Party made a stunning comeback in Uttar Pradesh as it surged ahead in 67 of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in Friday’s vote count in the state.
1:00 pm: Ambika Soni trailing by 19,724 votes in Anandpur Sahib
12:58 pm: Vinod Khanna leading Partap Singh Bajwa by 96779 votes in Gurdaspur.
12:57 pm: BJP ‘s Arun Jaitley trails by 61129 votes in Amritsar. Amarinder Singh ahead.
12:55 pm: Jayalalitha says AIADMK is now the third largest party in the Parliament
12:50 pm: Congress rout due to Gandhi family’s failure: Parrikar
The Congress rout across the country was due to the “collective failure of the Gandhi family”, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader told reporters outside a counting centre in Panaji that the party was polling more votes than expected in Goa.
Asked to comment on the Congress rout in the Lok Sabha poll, Parrikar said: “This is a result of the collective failure of the Gandhi family.”
12:40 pm: The BJP appeared set to wrest all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital from the Congress, with the AAP in the second spot and the Congress at a poor third.
12:33 pm: Congress leader Pilot loses in Ajmer; Union Minister Girija Vyas loses from Chittorgarh
12:25 pm: BJP seeks resignation of Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan after ruling alliance’s rout; seeks snap polls in state, reports PTI
12:20 pm: Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress wins from Gulbarga
12:18 pm: Narendra Modi tweets: India has won!
12:16 pm: UPA wins first seat: Deepender S Hooda (Congress) wind from Rohtak
12:15 pm: Former cricketer Mohd Azharuddin trailing by 32087 in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur seat.
Cong’s Sachin Pilot trailing by 77,249 votes in Ajmer against BJP’s Sanwar Lal Jat.
12:14 pm: Trends in West Bengal – TMC – 34 / LEFT – 1 / BJP – 2 / CONG – 4
12:13 pm: Jaswant Singh’s rebellion against the BJP is proving costly. Having thrown a tantrum over not being given a ticket to his pocket borough of Barmer in Rajasthan, the erstwhile BJP minister had resigned and filed as Independent. He is currently trailing by 35000 votes and looks likely to go down to defeat
12:11 pm: In what counts as an upset, given the overwhelming sentiment in favor of the BJP, Amrinder Singh of the Congress is poised to upset Leader of the BJP in the outgoing Rajya Sabha and senior leader Arun Jaitley. Singh currently leads by 48000 votes in Amritsar
12:10 pm: It’s Diwali and Holi for BJP workers, set to grand welcome for Modi
12:08 pm: BJP’s Harsh Vardhan wins battle for Chandni Chowk
12:08 pm: Mumbai embraces BJP-Shiv Sena, dumps Congress-NCP
The BJP-Shiv Sena is poised to make a clean sweep of Mumbai’s six Lok Sabha seats, as per Friday’s vote count trends.
In Mumbai South constituency, Congress candidate Murli Deora was trailing by over 60,000 votes to his nearest Shiv Sena rival Arvind Sawant.
Former union minister and AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat was trailing by over 36,000 of votes behind his rival Shiv Sena nominee Gajanan Kirtikar in Mumbai North-West.
In Mumbai North-Central, Congress’s Priya Dutt was trailing by around 60,000 votes behind Bharatiya Janata Party’s Poonam Mahajan, niece of BJP leader Gopinath Munde and daughter of former party strongman, the late Pramod Mahajan.
And in Mumbai North, Congress’s Sanjay Nirupam was trailing by over a lakh votes behind his BJP rival Gopal Shetty.
BJP’s Kirit Somaiya was leading by around 25,000 votes over his nearest Nationalist Congress Party rival Sanjay Patil and Aam Aadmi Party’s Medha Patkar in Mumbai North-East.
In Mumbai South-Central, Congress’s Eknath Gaikwad was trailing by over 40,000 votes against his Shiv Sena rival Rahul Shewale.
12:06 pm: BJP’s Narendra Modi defeats AAP’s Kejriwal by over 50,000 votes
12:04 pm: Assam CM Tarun Gogoi offers to resign
12:03 pm: Maharashtra: Leads + Win: NDA: 43 Seats, UPA: 4 Seats, PWPI: 1 Seat
11:59 am: Ruling Congress candidate CL Ruala is leading by 10,000 votes over Robert Romawia Royte of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the lone Lok Sabha constituency of Mizoram.
11:58 am: Congress leading/won in less than 50 seats
11:56 am: Rakhi Sawant now has 58 votes
11:54 am: The Congress-NCP combine is paying a heavy price in Maharashtra, where the BJP and the Shiv Sena have in alliance built leads in 42 seats out of 47.
11:53 am: BJP set to cross half-way mark on its own
11:50 am: “It was a learning experience for us, winning was not our objective. But the people have supported us,” AAP leader Girish Soni told IANS.
11:47 am: Filmmaker and Janata Dal (United) candidate Prakash Jha is trailing in West Champaran Lok Sabha constituency. Jha, who is contesting for the third time, is trailing BJP sitting MP Sanjay Jaiswal. Jha unsuccessfully contested as an Independent candidate in 2004 and on Lok Janshakti Party ticket in 2009 from Paschim Champaran seat.
11:44 am: Elsewhere, in Karnataka the BJP, which had earlier lost the Assembly elections to Congress, is turning that result around. The party is currently leading in 17 seats, while the Congress, which runs the state government, is leading in 7
11:43 am: Former BJP President Nitin Gadkari has won from Nagpur
11:42 am: Aam Aadmi Party gets its first Lok Sabha seat in Punjab. LK Advani wins from Gandhinagar, Gujarat
11:41 am: Paresh Rawal of the BJP is currently leading his Congress rival by over 70,000 votes
11:39 am: When BJP President Rajnath Singh moved out of Ghaziabad, analysts and others predicted a win for the AAP’s Shazia Ilmi, against former army chief VK Singh contesting on a BJP ticket. So much for analysis — VK Singh has won Ghaziabad
11:37 am: My son will lead India towards development: Modi’s mother
Hiraben, mother of BJP’s Narendra Modi, on Friday expressed the confidence that her son will successfully lead the country towards development, PTI reports.
As election results and trends pointed to a Modi-led BJP looking the favourties to form the government at the Centre, Hiraben offered prayers to surya, the Sun god.
“He has my blessings and he will lead the country towards development,” she was quoted by the agency. Read on
11:35 am: Naveen Jindal of Congress trailing from Kurukshetra.
11:34 am: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is leading by around 30,000 votes in the lone Lok Sabha constituency in the state against Congress candidate KV Pusa. Rio’s Naga People’s Front is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
11:33 am: Sonia Gandhi leads in Rae Bareli by 102298 votes, Sh Ajay Agrawal of BJP trails.
11:32 am: The BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha, an erstwhile minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, is leading in Patna Sabhib constituency.
11:30 am: DV Sadananda Gowda BJP wins from Bangalore North.
11:30 am: Another casualty — Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, best known for bleating “Please listen” during the serial disruptions that characterised the last LS, trailing behind BJP’s Chhedi Paswan
11:29 am: Congress headed towards worst defeat ever. Hope they are not chanting Ab ki baar..
11:28 am: Jyotiraditya Scindia Congress leading from Guna
11:27 am: Raj Babbar of Congress trailing from Ghaziabad
11:27 am: Andaman and Nicobar – BJP candidate Bishnu Pada Ray leading over Congress’ Kuldeep Rai Sharma by 5000 votes.
11:26 am: Maneka Gandhi of BJP leads in Pilibhit by 53940 votes.
11:25 am: In Chandni Chowk, Kapil Sibal is trailing Harshvardhan of the BJP. Even more pointedly, Sibal is at number three now, behind even AAP candidate Ashutosh
11:24 am: In Kerala, Independent candidate and hugely popular actor Innocent is leading INC’s PC Chacko.
11:23 am: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar of Congress trailing from Sasaram
11:22 am: In West Bengal, the Trinamool Party is ahead in 33 seats of 41 for which leads are available.
11:21 am: Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP trailing from Saran
11:21 am: BJP’s LK Advani wins Gandhinagar by 23360 votes.
11:20 am: At last count, the BJP is exceeding even the most optimistic projections, and is leading in 68 of 80 seats in the single most important state from a numbers point of view.
11:18 am: Another place, another dynasty in trouble: In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK is heading for a decimation of rival DMK — at this point in time, the DMK is trailing in EVERY SINGLE seat.
11:17 am: Nilekani trails Ananth Kumar by over 10,000 votes in Bangalore South. Right-wing politician Pramod Mutalik get 155 votes.
11:17 am: Narendra Modi has promised to unblock stalled investments in power, road and rail projects to revive economic growth that has fallen to a decade low of below 5 percent. Read expert views on Lok Sabha Elections 2014 Results. Read on
11:116 am: Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress has built a 37000 vote lead over the BJP’s senior leader Arun Jaitley — a surprise, given that the wave in favor of Modi and the party has powered even unknowns to wins in various constituencies
11:16 am: BJP’s Arun Jaitley trailing Amarinder Singh in Amritsar by 7000 votes now.
11:15 am: Yogendra Yadav of AAP trailing from Gurgaon
11:14 am: In Sangli Union Minister Pratik Patil, grandson of former Congress strongman Vasantdada Patil, is trailing.
11:13 am: Kirron Kher won from Chandigarh seat. She defeated Gul Panag frm AAP and Pawan Kumar Bansal from Congress
11:11 am: The Modi wave and the overall revulsion against the Congress is claiming even decent politicians like Milind Deora. In Mumbai South, Deora is trailing by around 18000 votes to Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena
11:09 am: Ajay Maken of Congress trailing from New Delhi
11:07 am: Chandan Mitra trailing in Hooghly
11:05 am: TRS currently leading in 63 seats out of 119 for the new state assembly and in 8 of 17 Lok Sabha seats.
11:03 am: In Gandhinagar, BJP’s grand old man L.K.Advani is leading Cong’s Kiritbhai Ishvarbhai Patel by 32144 votes
11:00 am: Jaswant Singh, former Finance and External Affairs minister for the BJP, who was dumped from the party for his anti-Modi position and statements and who since decided to contest as an independent, is now trailing in Barmer, Rajasthan.
10:55 am: Moon Moon Sen of the TMC leading in Bankura against Basudeb Acharia of the CPM.
10:50 am: Rajnath congratulates Modi
10:45 am: BJP was leading in all 25 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan where Congress stalwarts Sachin Pilot, Jitendra Singh, Chandresh Kumari, Namonarayan Meena, Girija Vyas and six sitting Congress MPs were trailing in 11 seats, reports PTI
10:40 am: Sweets makers wearing caps of India’s main opposition BJP prepare “Laddu”, a ball-shaped sweet, to be distributed among the party leaders, supporters and workers on Friday, at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi.
10:35 am: Latest poll trends from Uttar Pradesh today placed BJP ahead in 69 out of 80 seats.
10:32 am: BJP’s Nalin Kumar Kateel wins Dakshin Kannada.
10:30 am: Narendra Modi leads by 58,000 votes in Varanasi, 4 lakh votes in Vadodara
10:28 am: BJP patriarch L K Advani is leading with a margin of 1830 votes against Congress candidate Kirit Patel in Gandhinagar
10: 26 am: In Mumbai: Congress’s Priya Dutt trailing by over 20,000 votes, Eknath Gaikwad by over 18,000 votes, Sanjay Nirupam by over a 1,000 votes and Milind Deora by nearly 3,000 votes.
10:25 am: BJP-Sena combine leading in 30 seats in Maharashtra
10:24 am: BJP’s Varun Gandhi wins from Sultanpur
10:17 am: BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa wins from Shimoga, Karnataka
10:15 am: Modi is ahead by 4,711 votes in Varanasi while Rahul Gandhi is leading by 1,912 votes over his nearest rival BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi after first round of counting of votes.
10:10 am: In UP: Of the 80 seats, trends available in 69 seats.
BJP: 55
SP: 9
CONG: 1
BSP: 3
APNA DAL: 1
10:08 am: Narendra Modi leading by 301,509 votes in vadodara but NOA has 8912 votes in 3rd place
10:07 am: BJP sweeps Gujarat. Leading in all 26 seats
10:06 am: Celebrations begin at BJP’s Gujarat office
10:03 am: Congress concedes defeat, says it is ready to sit in Opposition
10:03 am: TMC’s Baichung Bhutia trails against BJP’s SS Ahluwalia in Darjeeling
10:02 am: AIADMK leading in 34 seats in Tamil Nadu
10:02 am: Cong’s Sushil Kumar Shinde trails against BJP’s Sharad Kumar Bansode.
10:00 am: BJP is leading in 17 seats while Lalu Prasad’s RJD is leading in 5 seats in the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
9:58 am: BJP leading in all 7 seats in Delhi
9:54 am: In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress party is leading in 26 of 42 seats.
9:53 am: Early trends show BJP leading in 50 seats in UP.
9:52 am: Ex-Infosys executives Nandan Nilekani, representing Congress, and V. Balakrishnan, of the the Aam Aadmi Party, trailing in Bangalore constituencies.
9:50 am: Narendra Modi is leading by a whopping 1.68 lakh votes over his Congress rival Madhusudan Mistry in Vadodara.
9:47 am: Praful Patel trails in Bhandara-Gondiya, Maharashtra
9:45 am: Jaswant Singh leads in Barmer
9:43 am: Aviation Minister Ajit Singh loses in Bhagpat
9:40 am: Trinamool Congress leads in Bengal
9:39 am: Early trends show NDA crosses 272 mark
9:36 am: BJP Candidate Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore leads from Jaipur Rural in Rajasthan
9:36 am: BJP was leading in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.
9:34 am: BJP candidates were leading in 22 and Congress in one out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan
9:32 am: Rahul Gandhi is trailing by 16,000 votes
Arun Jaitley trailing by 2800 votes in Amritsar
BJP is likely to win 58 seats says the party’s control room in Lucknow.
9:30 am: The BJP took a big lead as millions of votes polled in the Lok Sabha election were counted Friday, with its candidates racing ahead of all others in 71 of the 122 seats.
9:30 am: Ajit Singh trails in Baghpat, UP
9:27 am: BJP leading in Assam
9:25 am: Here’s an interesting fact: AAP, which is making a debut in this Lok Sabha elections, is leading in four out of 13 seats in Punjab.
9:23 am: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyer trailing in Myalduthurai in Tamil Nadu
9:23 am: MARKETS AT RECORD HIGH: The stock markets have gone through the roof: BSE up 800 points at 24,700; NSE up 230 points at 7355.
9:21 am: Congress candidate Priya Dutt trailing, Poonam Mahajan leading (Mumbai North Central)
9:20 am: Early counting of results in India’s general election put opposition leader Narendra Modi on course for a resounding victory that would hand him a clear mandate for his agenda to revive growth and create jobs.
Early returns showed Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies leading in 208 parliamentary seats. The ruling Congress party alliance was ahead in just 70, according to NDTV news.
Modi was ahead in both of the constituencies he contested – in Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat and in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.
Rahul Gandhi, who led the Congress campaign, was lagging in the constituency where he stood for election. A loss there would spell disaster for the great grandson of India’s independence leader and cast the political future of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty into serious doubt.
9:15 am: Meneka Gandhi leading, shows early trend
9:14 am: Congress candidate Sachin Pilot leading in Ajmer, according to early trends.
9:11 am: ‘Please God, Make Rahul Gandhi PM,’ Congress supporters pray
Even as the early trends on the counting day for the 2014 general elections show Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi trailing from Amethi constituency, a group of party supporters on Friday gathered outside the Congress office in the national capital are praying for the Gandhi scion to become India’s prime minister, NDTV reports.
A poster saying, ‘Please God, Make Rahul Gandhi PM, Make Sonia Gandhi’s party win’ is put outside the party office where the supporters are performing a ‘havan’, hoping for Congress miraculous win in the polls.
Earlier, the images of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, Congress president are missing from posters, now having only party’s symbol, the hand.
9:11 am: Poll effect: Sensex up 1.5 per cent or 366 points at 24,271; Nifty up 145 points at 7,268
9:11 am: Rahul Gandhi trails in Amethi.
9:09 am: Trends show Shiromani Akali Dal is leading in three Lok Sabha seats while Congress leader and Union Minister Preneet Kaur is leading in her bastion Patiala.
9:07 am: Punjab trends: AAP leads from Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Faridkot
9:05 am: Arun Jaitley trailing in Amritsar
9:05 am: Congress heavyweights Shashi Tharoor and Meira Kumar are trailing.
9:03 am: Raj Babbar trails while Shazia Ilmi leads in Ghaziabad
9:03 am: Prannoy Roy tweets: If present trend continues, BJP will get about 281-288
9:01 am: Meghalaya till now shows the highest share of NOTA votes with 3.1%: Election Commission
9:00 am: Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa is leading in Shimoga
9:00 am: Early trends indicate BJD ahead in 2 LS seats, Cong and BJP in 1 each in Odisha
9:00 am: Uttar Pradesh Leads (26/80): BJP: 22, Cong: 3, SP: 1
8:58 am: Trends in West Bengal:
TMC: 12
Left Front: 7
Congress: 3
BJP: 2
8:57 am: Kamal Nath, who over 9 elections has created a personal fortress in Chhindwara (MP), is trailing.
8:56 am: BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi leading in New Delhi constituency.
TMC’s Sugata Bose leads from the Jadavpur seat in WB.
BJP’s VK Singh leading from Ghaziabad, Sushma Swaraj leads from Vidisha.
BJP’s Ananth Kumar leading over Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore south.
8:55 am: BJP’s Vinod Khanna leading in Gurdaspur
8:54 am: BJP’s Sushma Swaraj leading in Vidisha
8:53 am: BJP+ leading in 160 seats
Congress + leading in 52 seats
Others leading in 32 seats
8:50 am: BJP leads in all Gujarat seat tallies so far. The Congress, AAP have not even opened their accounts.
Cong’s Nagma leads in Meerut.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav leads in Azamgarh
BJP’s Uma Bharti leads from Jhansi
Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar trails from Sasaram.
BJP’s Chandan Mitra leading from Hooghly
BJP’s Arun Jaitley leads from Amritsar
8:47 am: BJP’s Arun Jaitley leads in Amritsar
8:45 am: Aam Aadmi Party’s Shazia Illmi leading
8:43 am: Trends show Congress candidate Mohammad kaif leading
8:42 am: Early trends show Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani trailing
8:40 am: SP’s Dimple Yadav leading from Kannauj. Dimple is UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s wife.
8:38 am: Sonia Gandhi leading from Rae Bareli, Narendra Modi leading from Varanasi, Shashi Tharoor leading from Thiruvananthapuram, Jyotiraditya Scindia leads from Guna, LK Advani leading from Gandhnagar, Rahul Gandhi leading in Amethi.
8:36 am: Trends show Uma Bharti leading in Jhansi.
8:34 am: Sonia Gandhi leading in Rai Bareily and Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Kapil Sibal is trailing in Chandni Chowk.
8:33 am: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi leading in Amethi
8:31 am: Maneka Gandhi is trailing in Philibit, the constituency she took over from her son and sitting MP Varun Gandhi
8:30 am: Early trends show LK Advani leading in Gandhinagar
8:25 am: Early trends show Narendra Modi leading in Varanasi
8:20 am: BJP+ ahead in 62 of the 99 seats for which trends are available.
Congress+ ahead in 26
Otehrs ahead in 11 seats
8:15 am: PTI reports that the DMK candidate in Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency Mohammed Jaleel was bereaved hours ahead of counting of votes today. His wife, Shamsu Nisha (60), died of heart attack early this morning, family members said.
8:10 am: Tens of thousands of officials began the formal counting at 8 am in 989 centres across the country, watched by agents of the candidates as well as security personnel.
8:00 am: Counting of some 550 million votes polled in India’s general election began Friday morning. Counting began at 989 centres across the country at 8 am.