PNN – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition has won a majority in local elections that concluded on Saturday, according to an early poll by NDTV news channel.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network from “NDTV”, this preliminary poll predicted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win more than 350 seats in the 543-member parliament. This is while a party needs 272 seats to get a majority.
The NDA coalition won 353 seats in the local elections of 2019 in India.
This is while predictions indicate that the opposition coalition “India” led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party will win 120 seats.
Early polls in the country do not have an accurate track record in India, as they have often mispredicted election results, and analysts say that correctly predicting them in this large and diverse country faces its own challenges.
The opposition parties rejected the initial polls and called their results “unreliable”.
Several other Indian television channels are scheduled to announce their preliminary election results on Saturday.
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After 43 days from the beginning of the Indian House of Commons elections, the seventh and final phase of the longest election in the world called “Lok Sabha” began.
The seven-stage elections in the world’s largest democracy will end today with voting to determine the assignment of 57 seats, and the results of the votes will be announced on Tuesday. As of 1:00 p.m. local time, more than 39 percent participation among voters has been registered.
The importance of the last stage is in the nomination of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is running for a record third consecutive term as Prime Minister from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. At this stage, voting will take place to determine the task of 13 in this state.
Before the start of voting, parts of Bengal, including Kolkata, witnessed clashes and violence. Hand grenades exploded in some areas and Secular Front of India (ISF) candidate Noor Khan’s car was attacked on Friday. Chaos continued this morning as police used tear gas to push back the gatherings at the Jodhpur pavilion.
Modi urged Indian voters to participate in elections and make “India’s democracy more dynamic and participatory”.
Despite the violence in Bengal, the state witnessed one of the highest voter turnout in the final phase till 1 pm. So far, Himachal Pradesh has contributed the most with 48.63%, followed by Jharkhand with 46.80%, Bengal with 45.07% and Chandigarh with 40.14%. Orissa recorded the lowest participation rate till 13:00 with 37.64%.
Nearly one billion Indian citizens were eligible to vote in the seven-phase election that began on April 19 and was held in many regions in the scorching summer heat.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to win the necessary parliamentary majority, amid growing criticism that India’s democracy has been undermined since the party came to power 10 years ago.
With over 969 million eligible voters representing over 10% of the world’s population, India’s elections are considered the world’s largest exercise in democracy.
The voting age is 18 and candidates must be at least 25 years old.