Election results 2019: BJP takes early lead, holds on to Hindi heartland
India began counting hundreds of millions of votes in its general election on Thursday, with a coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party taking an early lead, TV channels and the Election Commission said. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is expected to surpass the 272 seats needed to command a majority in the Lok Sabha, six of seven exit polls showed on Sunday. The NDA led in 235 seats, with the opposition United Progressive Alliance ahead in 95, at 9 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), about an hour after the counting of about 600 million votes began, TV channel NDTV said. Official data from the Election Commission showed the BJP ahead in 101 seats, with the main opposition Congress Party ahead in 40. There are 542 seats available. Trends are expected to be known by noon and final results are due by Thursday evening. The NDA’s predicted margin of victory is larger than surveys indicated in the run-up to the vote, w