Modi's Alliance in Majority in Early India Vote Count
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance raced to a majority in early vote counting trends in the general election on Tuesday, but the numbers were well short of the landslide predicted in exit polls, TV channels showed.
The early see-saw trends spooked markets with stocks falling steeply. The blue-chip NIFTY 50 was down 4.4% and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 4.2% at 0600 GMT, Reuters reported.
The rupee also fell sharply against the dollar and benchmark bond yields were up.
The markets had soared on Monday after exit polls on June 1 projected Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would register a big victory, with its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seen getting a two-thirds majority and more.
At 0600 GMT, TV channels showed the NDA was ahead in nearly 300 of the 543 elective seats in parliament, where 272 is a simple majority, in early counting. The opposition INDIA alliance led by Rahul Gandhi's centrist Congress party was leading in over 220 seats, higher than expected.
TV channels showed BJP accounted for nearly 250 of the seats in which the NDA was leading, short of a majority on its own, compared to the 303 it won in 2019.
TV exit polls broadcast after voting ended on June 1 projected a big win for Modi, but exit polls have often got election outcomes wrong in India. Nearly one billion people were registered to vote, of which 642 million turned out.
Modi, 73, who first swept to power in 2014 by promising growth and change, is seeking to be only the second prime minister after India's independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to win three straight terms.
