The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance appears to be inching towards forming the next government at the Centre even as the Congress-anchored INDIA alliance put up a strong fight in the hard-fought Lok Sabha elections.
As per the latest trends from the Election Commission after over 12 hours of counting, the ruling NDA was leading in 293 seats, still short of the halfway mark of 272 in the 542-member Lok Sabha. However, the INDIA bloc was trailing at 229 seats.
Among the early winners declared were Amit Shah from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and former Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy from Mandya. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi emerged victorious from his family bastion of Raebareli.
In a significant development, the BJP managed to open its account in Kerala as actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won the prestigious Thrissur seat.
As the counting progressed at a staggered pace across states, the lists of winning candidates from various constituencies and parties started taking shape:
(Constituency-wise winner list can be added here as per updates)
(Party-wise tally of winners can be mentioned here based on EC trends)
While the final picture is still emerging, the neck-and-neck contest has raised prospects of intense bargaining and realignment of political formations in the days ahead.
All eyes are now on the pivotal state players who may emerge as potential kingmakers, deciding who eventually gets to form the next government at the Centre.
The high-stakes electoral battle witnessed a bitterly-fought campaign with the NDA and INDIA groupings engaged in shrill mud-slinging and trading allegations over a range of issues from economic management to institutional integrity.
As official results pour in over the next few hours, hectic parleys among political parties are expected to explore possibilities of forging a viable coalition that can stake claim to power.
