Lok Sabha election results: Counting of votes to begin at 8am tomorrow
A security jawan stands guard as voters wait to cast their votes at a polling station, during the sixth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, at Chaibasa in West Singhbhum district. Photograph: (PTI)
<p>The final result of the mega electoral exercise to elect the world's largest democracy will be announced on Thursday. Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am tomorrow and the clear picture of who will lead the nation for the next five years will emerge in the evening. </p> <p>More than 8,000 candidates were in the fray for 542 seats across the nation. 67.11 per cent of the 90.99 crore electors had cast their vote in the seven-phase elections.</p> <p>It is suggested that the counting of votes and the announcement of results may get delayed due to tallying of voter-verified paper audit trail slips with EVM count. The exercise will take place for the first time.</p> <p>The exercise will take place in five polling stations per assembly segment which effectively means that out of nearly 10.3 lakh polling stations, the EVM-VVPAT matching will take place in 20600 such stations, news agency PTI reported. </p>Key Updates
22 May 2019, 10:37 PM (IST)
TMC asks workers to guard strongrooms
The Trinamool Congress leadership has asked its workers in West Bengal to guard strongrooms in their respective areas, fearing that the BJP might try to smuggle out EVMs, TMC leaders said on Wednesday.
"We have asked our cadres to be on high alert and guard strongrooms in their respective areas... So that the BJP can't indulge in any sort of mischief," a senior TMC leader said.
22 May 2019, 9:48 PM (IST)
Opposition raising questions on EVM as it is rattled by likely defeat: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah Wednesday accused the Opposition of "disrespecting" people's mandate by raising doubts on electronic voting machines and said it is "tarnishing" Indian democracy as it is rattled by its "likely defeat" in Lok Sabha elections.
22 May 2019, 9:13 PM (IST)
Odisha: Congress concedes defeat before counting of votes
A day before the counting of votes take place, Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik Wednesday conceded that the party will not be able to form a government on its own in the state and may lose opposition status also.
Patnaik's statement indicated that its straight fight between the BJD and the BJP in Odisha, a state where Congress had its government for several times in the past and where it is principal opposition to the Naveen Patnaik headed party for previous 19 years.
22 May 2019, 9:05 PM (IST)
Opposition sees defeat coming: Ram Madhav
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday said that the Opposition is raising the questions on EVM credibility as they see their imminent defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
"They are seeking excuses for their impending disastrous defeat tomorrow," Ram Madhav told.
"First they blamed the Election Commission, then EVM. Tomorrow you will see them blaming voters," he added.
22 May 2019, 6:25 PM (IST)
What exit polls say
With the final phase of polling of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections coming to an end on May 19, exit polls predicted a thumping win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha polls.
The party, along with its allies, is predicted to sweep a lion's share of the Hindi heartland of the nation including states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar as well as the national capital.