The stage is set for the mega verdict on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking forward to a historic third term amid a confident opposition INDIA bloc hoping to take on the ruling NDA.
June 4 results follow a historic marathon voting in seven phases where 642 million voters participated in the electoral process to elect Members of Parliament in 543 seats.
The counting of votes will begin across counting centres across 28 states and 8 Union territories at 8 am on Tuesday (June 4).
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The voting for the Lok Sabha Elections started on April 19, followed by the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25 and the last phase on June 1.
The counting of votes for the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha assembly polls and bye-elections to assembly seats will also be held on the same day.
Exit Polls Predict Lead For NDA
The exit polls have predicted a return for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA to power at the Centre with a decisive victory.
However, the NDA is likely to fall short of its '400 paar' target. The BJP is predicted to outperform its 2019 success and gain even more seats this year. The saffron party is projected to be backed ably by its allies, taking the alliance's tally beyond 350. The BJP alone is projected to win 315 seats, up from its 2019 tally of 303.
The I.N.D.I.A bloc, despite "united" efforts of nearly 25 parties to challenge the BJP-led NDA juggernaut, seems to fall short of its goal and projected to get at least 152-182 seats.
However, the opposition alliance, led by Congress, have refuted the exit poll surveys and claimed that the bloc will win at least 295 seats. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed the INDIA group would get 295 seats and called the exit polls “Modi media poll” and “Modiji’s fantasy poll”.
8,000 Candidates In Fray
The counting day will decide the fate of over 8,000 candidates, of which 16 per cent have been fielded by national parties, and six per cent by state parties.
According to PRS Legislative Research, this is the highest number of candidates since 1996, when a record 13,952 candidates were in the fray. In the 2019 polls, there were 8,039 candidates.
Preparations Underway Across Camps
The preparations for the mega verdict are underway across parties. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw along with BJP leaders Vinod Tawde, Gaurav Bhatia and Vinod Tawde, inspected preparations at party headquarters in Delhi ahead of counting of votes on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, BJP workers in Patna have prepared 400 kg laddoos ahead of the counting of votes.
The Mumbai BJP has prepared 10,000 laddus for the victory celebration ahead of the results.
Preparations are also underway at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi ahead of the Tuesday counting. The Congress party has also called all senior leaders of the opposition alliance to stay in Delhi till tomorrow night (Tuesday) or day after tomorrow morning (Wednesday).
Tight Security In Place
Stringent security arrangements have been made for the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Kashmir as additional forces have been deployed at key places in the valley. A three-tier security blanket has been thrown around the counting centres in Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag to ensure that no unauthorised person enters the premises
In UP, authorities have deployed 179 observers, 80 Returning Officers and making multi-layer security arrangements at 81 centres set up across the state. The counting and sealing proceedings will be conducted under CCTV surveillance.
The Delhi Police has issued a traffic advisory in view of the counting of votes. The movement of traffic on the stretch from Gagan Cinema T-Point to Nand Nagri Flyover on Wazirabad road will be restricted from 5 am onwards, the advisory said.
The traffic will also be affected at the Bhopura border, Wazirabad Road and Sarai Kale Khan. The Delhi Police urged those travelling to ISBT, railway stations and airports to carefully plan their travel with sufficient time at hand.
2019 Tally
In the Lok Sabha Elections 2019, the BJP-led NDA won 353 out of 543 seats. Out of the total seats won by the NDA, the BJP won 303 seats becoming the single largest party.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was limited to nearly 93 seats, with Congress getting 52 seats. The DMK got 24 seats, the YSR Congress and Trinamool Congress both got 22 seats respectively, and Shiv Sena bagged 18 seats.
The BJP got a clean sweep in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana as well as in the UTs of Chandigarh and Daman & Diu.