Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi: The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections started 8am Tuesday amid tight security arrangements across all counting centres.
The process will commence with the counting of postal ballots and will continue till the final tallies are prepared.
Similarly, the counting of votes began for 147 Assembly constituencies and 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha Tuesday morning, officials said. Polling was held for those seats in four phases in the state between May 13 and June 1.
NDA likely to retain power while INDIA shines
The BJP-led NDA Tuesday was leading in 290 seats to cross the majority in the latest trends available for 543 seats, while the Congress-led INDIA bloc was ahead in 235 Lok Sabha seats, the Election Commission data showed.
The BJP is ahead in 135 parliamentary constituencies and won 104 seats, as per the latest available data issued by the Election Commission.
The Congress is leading in 56 parliamentary constituencies and emerged victorious in 43 seats.
Odisha Assembly poll results: BJP stuns BJD in latest trends
As per the latest data issued by EC, the saffron party has secured 32 Assembly seats while the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has won 21 seats in the state.
The Congress also emerged victorious in three seats in the state.
Besides, the BJP was leading in 47 Assembly seats in Odisha, while the BJD was leading in 29 seats and the Congress was ahead in 11 constituencies in the latest trends released by the Election Commission (EC).
The CPI(M) was leading in one Assembly seat in the state.
Odisha LS poll results: BJP ahead in 19; BJD, Congress lead in one seat each
The BJP was ahead in 19 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, while the BJD and Congress were leading in one parliamentary seat each, as per available trends.
The BJP candidates are ahead in Berhampur, Aska, Puri, Jagtsinghpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Bargarh, Bolangir, Nabarangpur and Kalahandi Lok Sabha seats.
Congress candidate Saptagiri Ulaka was leading in Koraput, while the BJD nominee Sarmistha Sethi was ahead in Jajpur parliamentary constituency, according to the latest trends available so far.
‘Thank you Odisha! It’s a resounding victory for good governance, says PM Modi as BJP appears set for majority in the state.’
‘Andhra Pradesh has given exceptional mandate to NDA. I thank the people of the state for their blessings: PM Modi.’
‘Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wins Kerala’s Wayanad constituency by a margin of 3,64,422 votes against CPI’s Annie Raja.’
Sexual assault accused Prajwal Revanna loses in Hassan
JD(S) state President and former Chief Minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy’s nephew and sitting MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing probe on charges of sexually abusing several women, failed to retain his Hassan seat.
JD(S) appeared to take the 33-year-old Revanna’s electoral loss in its stride.
On his defeat, Kumaraswamy told reporters here: “It was known to all. Certain issues cannot be discussed openly. We will try to rectify things where we have lost”.
Revanna is currently in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the cases, after remaining at large abroad for over a month.
BJP wins 10 LS seats in Rajasthan, leads on six
The BJP won 10 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan and was leading on six out of the 25 constituencies in the state.
Of the remaining seats, the Congress won five seats and leading on three, while its INDIA bloc partners CPI(M) and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) won one seat each and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) was leading on one seat.
The results of 16 Lok Sabha seats have been declared so far.
BJP candidates who have been declared victorious are Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner, Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, Dushyant Singh from Jhalawar-Baran, Manju Sharma from Jaipur, Bhagirath Choudhary from Ajmer, Lumbaram from Jalore, Mahima Kumari Mewar from Rajsamand, Damodar Agarwal from Bhilwara and Manna Lal Rawat from Udaipur.
While Union minister Meghwal won by a margin of 55,711 votes, Dushyant Singh, son of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, won by 3,70,989 votes.
BJP ahead in 10 of 11 LS seats in Chhattisgarh; former CM Baghel trails
The ruling BJP continued to maintain an impressive lead in 10 out of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh Tuesday, as per the latest trends, while state minister Brijmohan Agrawal was ahead by more than 5 lakh votes against his nearest Congress rival in Raipur.
In the high-profile Rajnandgaon seat, Congress candidate and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel was trailing by a margin of 44,621 votes against BJP’s sitting MP Santosh Pandey.
TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee wins Diamond Harbour seat by 7.10 lakh votes
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee Tuesday won from Diamond Harbour constituency by a margin of 7.10 lakh votes, the ECI said.
Banerjee, the sitting MP, secured 10.48 lakh votes, while his nearest rival Abhijit Das of the BJP bagged 3.37 lakh votes.
BJP opens account in Kerala as Suresh Gopi wins Thrissur constituency
BJP candidate and actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat by a remarkable margin of 74,686, according to the Election Commission Tuesday.
With this, the saffron party opened its maiden account in the state for the lower house of Parliament.Gopi defeated CPI leader VS Sunilkumar in an exciting fight.
While Gopi garnered a total of 4,12,338 votes, Sunilkumar had to make do with 3,37,652 votes, according to the EC figures.
‘TDP says it will stick with NDA, rules out support to INDIA bloc.’
‘Congress candidate from Kangra Lok Sabha seat Anand Sharma loses to BJP’s Rajiv Bhardwaj by a margin of 2,51,895 votes.’
The ‘UP’ upset: BJP lags behind SP
In stark contrast with exit polls, the Samajwadi party was leading in 35 Lok Sabha seats and won in three while the BJP clinched victory in six seats and was ahead in 26, according to the latest trends on the Election Commission website.
The Congress also resurged in UP as it is leading six of the total 17 seats it contested in the north Indian state.
INDIA bloc to take call Wednesday on approaching former partners: Rahul Gandhi
The INDIA bloc will meet and decide Wednesday whether to approach former partners such as the JD(U) and the TDP to attempt government formation at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.
“We are going to have a meeting with our partners tomorrow. These questions will be raised and answered there,” Gandhi told a press conference here when asked if the Congress and its allies will approach parties that are part of the NDA to try and form a government.
Supriya Sule thanks people of Baramati for supporting her in LS polls
NCP (SP) candidate Supriya Sule, who is heading towards victory in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat against NCP candidate Sunetra Pawar, dedicated her victory to the people of her constituency, and thanked them for supporting her.
The contest for the Baramati seat, the home turf of the Pawar family, was keenly-watched as Sunetra Pawar, wife of Sule’s cousin Ajit Pawar, was in the fray against Sule. It was for the first time that two members of the Pawar family contested an election against each other.
Naveen Patnaik trails by more than 8,000 votes in Kantabanji
BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik was trailing by 8,121 votes from his opponent Laxman Bag after 19 rounds of counting in Kantabanji Assembly constituency, the latest data released by EC read.
It can be mentioned here that the five-time Chief Minister chose Kantabanji seat apart from his usual Hinjili bastion to mitigate BJP’s rising graph in western Odisha,
SKM’s Indra Hang Subba wins lone LS seat in Sikkim
SKM candidate Indra Hang Subba Tuesday won the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim, defeating his nearest rival Bharat Basnett of the Citizen Action Party (CAP-Sikkim) by 80,830 votes.
The 35-year-old sitting MP polled 1,64,396 votes, while Basnett bagged 83,566.
PM Modi wins from Varanasi for third consecutive term, victory margin lowest
Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the Varanasi seat for the third consecutive term by defeating Congress candidate Ajay Rai.
The victory margin of Modi this time is 1,52,513 which is less than his victory margins of 2019 and 2014.
In 2019, Modi’s victory margin was 4,79,505. He defeated SP’s Shalini Yadav that time while Congress’ Ajay Rai was the runner up.
In 2014, Modi had won by a margin of 3,71,784 votes when he defeated AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal.
Congress’s Sofia Firdous wins Barabati-Cuttack seat
The Congress nominee from Barabati-Cuttack Assembly seat has won the election by defeating her nearest rival from BJP, Purna Chandra Mahapatra.
BJD retains Banki seat
The BJD able to retain Banki Assembly seat as its Devi Ranjan Tripathy won by defeating his nearest rival from BJP Tusara Kanta Chakravarty (BJP) by a margin of 16,915 votes.
Odisha: Pramila Malik wins Binjharpur Assembly seat
Pramilla Mallik (BJD) won Binjharpur (SC) Assembly seat defeating her nearest rival Babita Mallik (BJP) by 2,759 votes.
Odisha: BJP’s Surama Padhy clinches victory in Ranpur
The BJP candidate from Ranpur Assembly seat Surama Padhy bagged victory by defeating her nearest opponent from BjD Satyanarayan Pradhan with a decent margin of 15,346 votes.
Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari wins election from Brajrajnagar
Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari won Brajrajnagar Assembly seat by defeating his BJD rival Alaka Mohanty with a comfortable margin of 26,582 votes.
Odisha: Congress wins Chitrakonda Assembly seat
The Congress candidate from Chitrakonda Assembly seat won the election by defeating his nearest rival from BJP, Dambaru Sisa, with a decent margin of 9,398 votes. BJD’s Laxmipriya Nayak secured 34,820 votes.
Odisha: BJP’s Tankadhar Tripathy defeats BJD’s Dipali Das in Jharsuguda
BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy won Jharsuguda Assembly seat by defeating BJD’s Dipali Das — the daughter of slain minister Naba Das — with a thin margin of 1,265 votes.
Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti concede defeat in LS polls
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti conceded defeat Tuesday from their respective Lok Sabha seats even as counting of votes was still underway.
According to the EC data for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, jailed former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid was leading against former chief minister Abdullah by a margin of more than 1.25 lakh votes.
NDA ahead in Bihar, Nitish’s JD(U) on top
The BJP-led NDA was leading in a majority of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, according to trends available by the Election Commission around noon.
The JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who returned to the NDA barely five months ago, was ahead of rivals in 14 out of 16 seats it had contested.
The BJP, which had contested 17 seats, was leading in 11, while junior ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was ahead in all the five in its kitty, including Hajipur, where its president Chirag Paswan had established a lead of about 24,000 votes.
The RJD, which had suffered decimation in the last general elections, was leading in five seats, out of 23 where it had fielded candidates.
Dharmendra Pradhan leading by over 57,000 votes in Sambalpur LS seat
Union Minister and BJP candidate Dharmendra Pradhan was leading by 57,089 votes over his nearest rival Pranab Prakash Das of the Biju Janata Dal, according to the Election Commission of India.
Pradhan has received 2,72,162 votes while Das has got 2,15,073 votes.
Congress candidate Nagendra Kumar Pradhan is in third position with 41,948 votes.
Karnataka: Congress heading to improve tally, BJP yield ground as per initial counting trends
The ruling Congress in Karnataka appeared headed Tuesday to improve its tally and BJP yield ground as per initial counting trends in 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State.
The BJP was ahead in 17 seats, Congress in eight and JD(S) in three as per the latest counting figures, according to Election Commission officials.
The Congress won a mere one seat out of the total 28 in the State in the 2019 general elections.
BJP had swept the previous Lok Sabha elections bagging 25 seats, while an independent backed by it also won.
Naveen Patnaik trails in early trends from Kantanaji
Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik is trailing by 1,158 votes from BJD candidate Laxman Bag in Kantabanji Assembly seat after three rounds of counting.
It can be mentioned here that the five-time Chief Minister chose Kantabanji seat apart from his usual Hinjili bastion to mitigate BJP’s rising graph in western Odisha,
Maharashtra: BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) leading in 11 seats, Congress ahead in 10
The BJP is leading in 11 seats, Shiv Sena in six and NCP in one seat in Maharashtra, while the Congress is ahead in 10, Shiv Sena (UBT) in 11 as per the latest trends of counting for 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is leading in eight seats.
Independent Vishal Patil, who rebelled against the Congress to contest from Sangli, had established a comfortable lead.
Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal were leading in the Nagpur and Mumbai North Lok Sabha seats, while their colleague Raosaheb Danve had a slender lead in Jalna.
UP: INDIA bloc leading in 42 seats, BJP-led NDA in 37
The INDIA bloc was leading in 42 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP-led NDA in 37, according to trends on the Election Commission website.
INDIA bloc parties SP and the Congress were leading in 34 and eight seats, respectively, the election panel’s data for polls to the 80 parliamentary constituencies in the state showed.
NDA ahead in 20 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh in early trends
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is ahead in 15 Lok Sabha seats, its NDA partners-BJP in three and Janasena in two segments out of the total 25, as per the early trends put out by the Election Commission Tuesday.
According to the EC website, the ruling YSR Congress is leading in five LS seats.
Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reeddy’s sister and APCC chief YS Sharmila is trailing in Kadapa seat where sitting YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy is leading by over 16,000 votes in the early trends.
Gujarat: BJP leading in 24 seats, Congress in 1
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 24 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and the Congress in one, as per the latest trends available of counting underway for 25 constituencies in the state on Tuesday.
Except for Patan, BJP candidates were leading in all 24 seats.
TMC leading in 24, BJP in 7, Cong in 3 seats in Bengal
The TMC surged ahead of its rivals as it was leading in 24 seats, whereas the BJP was leading in seven and the Congress in three seats after the initial round of counting, the Election Commission website said.
TMC candidate and sitting MP Abhishek Banerjee is leading in Diamond Harbour constituency over his nearest rival BJP’s Abhijit Das by a margin of 96,507 votes.
Telangana: BJP leading in nine LS seats, Owaisi ahead in Hyderabad
The BJP was leading in nine of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana, while the ruling Congress was ahead in four seats as per initial trends indicated by news channels, as the counting of votes progressed in the state on Tuesday.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was leading in Hyderabad LS constituency.
Jharkhand: BJP leads in six seats, Congress in two, AJSU Party in one
The Bharatiya Janata Party was leading in five Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand, while the Congress was ahead in two and AJSU Party in one, as per available trends.
Union minister and sitting MP Arjun Munda was trailing Congress’s Kalicharan Munda in Khunti Lok Sabha seat by 3,300 votes, as per officials.
TMC leading in 19, BJP in 17 seats in Bengal
The TMC and the BJP were Tuesday locked in a neck-and-neck contest in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal as it was leading in 19 seats, whereas the BJP was leading in 17 seats after the initial round of counting of postal ballots, Election Commission officials said.
BJP leading in all five seats of Uttarakhand
The BJP was leading in all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, according to news channels.
The Election Commission is yet to give the initial trends but according to the news channels former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is leading in Haridwar, Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah in Tehri Garhwal, Anil Baluni in Garhwal (Pauri), Ajay Bhatt in Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and Ajay Tamta in Almora.
The BJP has been sweeping all the five seats in the state since 2014.
PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani leading in initial trends
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are leading from Varanasi and Lucknow Lok Sabha seats respectively as the counting of postal ballots is taking place.
Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor lead in postal ballots in Kerala
Sitting Congress MP from Wayand, Rahul Gandhi, and Shashi Tharoor at Thiruvananthapuram have started off with a lead when postal votes were counted Tuesday.
TMC, BJP in neck and neck fight in Bengal
The TMC and the BJP were Tuesday locked in a neck-and-neck contest in West Bengal as counting of postal ballots for the Lok Sabha polls was underway, with the former having a slight edge, TV channels reported.
PNN & Agencies