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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a majority on his own in India’s general election, with his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surging to a commanding lead in early vote counting.
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BJP supporters have begun celebrating in the streets as the party extended its lead in more than 292 seats, easily ahead of the 272 seats needed to form government, while Congress is ahead in 50 seats, official election commission results show as of 11:36 am local time.
Indian equities jumped, with the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hitting the 40,000 milestone as the election results rolled out. The rupee strengthened 0.2 per cent to 69.5175 per dollar, while the yield on benchmark 2029 bonds slid six basis points to 7.2 per cent, the lowest since last April.
The Election Commission of India began counting at 8:00 AM after a six-week-long process that began on April 11. There are roughly 900 million registered voters and with turnout at around 67 per cent, that’s more than 600 million people casting ballots.
Ahead of counting, opposition leaders have raised questions about the integrity of the electronic voting machines. The agency has rejected these accusations, but complaints may continue as results roll in.
Nearly all exit polls predicted Modis BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance would sweep to a comfortable victory over the rival Congress party and its United Progressive Alliance.
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