India election results: Narendra Modi claims victory as BJP leads across country

Follow how the results unfolded as they came in

Locals turn out to vote in India's general elections

Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi has claimed victory in India’s general election.

Mr Modi promised to unite the country as his party was on course to increase its majority.

Official data from the Election Commission showed Mr Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead in 300 of the 542 seats being contested, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament.

As counting continued, some senior members of the main opposition Congress party admitted defeat and a post mortem of the grand old party’s poor performance began.

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Key Points

• Counting began at 8am local time (3.30am BST)
• Results by midday show ruling BJP on course for another big win
• In line with exit polls on Sunday giving Modi's right-wing coalition a clear victory
• Post mortem begins for opposition Congress as it looks set to fall well short
• Some controversial right wing Hindu nationalists winning seats for BJP
• Complete results expected by late Thursday 

[23 May 2019 08:53 · Adam Withnall]

Narendra Modi was seen as being under pressure going into this election, after losing three state elections in December amid rising anger over farm prices and unemployment.

After he looks set to secure a historic second outright majority in a row, however, members of his party will now look for him to take a harder line on national security, as well as build a controversial temple on the site of a mosque that was demolished by a Hindu mob in Ayodhya in 1992.

"I want Modi to finish terrorism from Kashmir (and) make Pakistan bite the dust again and again," Shekhar Chahal, a BJP worker from Delhi told Reuters. "I am confident that Modi will also make the temple in Ayodhya."

[23 May 2019 09:15 · Adam Withnall]

A reminder that almost all the exit polls on Sunday gave Narendra Modi's BJP and its allies between 280 and 315 seats - a majority, but falling short of its 2014 result.

We now know that those exit polls fell far short of the reality, as the BJP-led coalition is leading on more than 340 seats in the latest count.

Here's a reminder of what those exit polls said on the final day of voting:

[23 May 2019 10:15 · Adam Withnall]

Voters across the country, from the wealthy neighbourhoods of Delhi to the poorest state Bihar, have put faith in Narendra Modi's BJP.

The latest figures coming in are suggesting that the BJP has gained 10 per cent of the national vote share compared to 2014 - an extraordinary achievement for an incumbent government.

Ahead of the last day of voting, The Independent spoke to voters in Bihar about their issues with the BJP - but found that no other single party had such a degree of vocal support on the ground.

[23 May 2019 10:33 · Samuel Osborne]

Narendra Modi has claimed victory and promised to build a strong and inclusive nation.

"Together we grow," he said on Twitter. "Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India wins yet again!"

[23 May 2019 11:00 · Samuel Osborne]

Election Commission data show Mr Modi's BJP leading in contests for 299 out of 542 seats in parliament, with the main opposition Congress party ahead in 50 contests.

[23 May 2019 11:23 · Samuel Osborne]

There is a festival atmosphere at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, where the party has encouraged thousands of supporters to celebrate the result, Adam Withnall writes.

Arriving party leaders are being met like rock stars and there was a minor stampede upon the arrival of party supremo Amit Shah, with the swell of the crowd sending some supporters tumbling.

People dressed in white, green and most importantly the saffron of the BJP can be seen thronging the party headquarters and along the road for more than a kilometre away.

Sporadic chants of "Modi, Modi" break out among the crowd while wedding drummers and party leaders keep up the frenzied atmosphere with loudspeakers, flares and streams of confetti.

[23 May 2019 11:54 · Samuel Osborne]

World leaders, including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, have congratulated Mr Modi on Twitter.

[23 May 2019 12:00 · Samuel Osborne]

Here are photos of the carnival scene at the BJP headquarters, taken by Adam Withnall, shortly before the arrival of party president Amit Shah sent the crowd into a frenzy.  

Mr Modi's supporters celebrate in Delhi (Adam Withnall)

Mr Modi's supporters celebrate in Delhi (Adam Withnall) 

[23 May 2019 12:11 · Samuel Osborne]

[23 May 2019 12:27 · Samuel Osborne]

In this Voices article, Dibyesh Anand asks: Does the continuing electoral success of a far-right Hindu nationalist demagogue finally mark the end of secular democracy in India?