Get the 2019 Lok Sabha election results day highlights below.
While the final results are yet to be out, most of the trends indicate that the National Democratic Alliance is returning to power and Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister. Both the BJP and the NDA are likely to get more seats than 2014. An expensive, communally charged, personality-centered campaign seems to have paid off for the BJP, which made major gains in West Bengal and Jharkhand, among other states, while retaining its stranglehold over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. The hopes of strong resistance from the Gathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh were belied as the BJP more or less retained its vote share while losing only a few seats. (Get the 2019 Lok Sabha election results day highlights below.)
Tamil Nadu remained one of the few states to buck the trend, with the DMK-led alliance sweeping the state. Kerala saw massive gains for the Congress, probably due to a consolidation of minority votes against the BJP and at least a small shift of voters from the BJP to the UDF. In Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD stormed back to power in the state and won the majority of Lok Sabha seats. In Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy is set to the become the Chief Minister for the first time, marking a dramatic turnaround in his political career. In Telangana, K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s dominance continues unchallenged.
The coming days will be important for India’s political landscape. Bolstered by the strong mandate, the BJP will next cast its eyes on the State governments of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and perhaps even West Bengal. The new government is also likely to continue unabated policies that have caused mass despair, especially in rural India. For people’s movements and the left, which plummeted to a new low in these election, the questions of how to take these issues to the masses and mobilise them effectively is an issue that will call for serious thought.
Counting has begun for the 542 Lok Sabha constituencies of the country. The Election Commission site has announced trends for 187 seats.
Of these, the BJP is leading in 101 seats and the Congress in 40, TRS in 9, Shiv Sena in 6 seats, DMK in 4, and CPI (M) and BSP in 2 seats. These are, of course, very initial trends and it is too early to make any assumptions about the results from these trends.
Tune in to Newsclick’s live analyses of the elections results with senior journalists Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta and Prabir Purkayastha. Over the course of the day, senior journalists Urmilesh and Bhasha Singh will also join the discussion. Initial trends by NDTV indicate that the NDA is not performing as well as the exit polls suggested, our expert analysts note. For instance in Gujarat, the Congress is leading in 5 seats. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is leading in 12 seats as opposed to the exit polls, which predicted a massive sweep for the BJP. Of course, these are very initial trends.
As per the Election Commission of India, BJP is leading in 198 seats. Take a look at the leads of some of the key political parties.
Congress 53 | DMK 12 | BSP 7 | Shiv Sena 10 | CPI(M) 3
As of now, status is known for only 371 of the 542 constituencies. As per the EC website, the BJP is now leading in 206 seats.
Tamil Nadu has seen the massive resurgence of the DMK-led front, which is leading in over 30 seats. The AIADMK had swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls winning 36 of the 39 seats. These results are a heavy blow to the AIADMK which formed an alliance with the BJP after the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Senior journalist Abhisar Sharma says, "After Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi is the biggest brand in Indian politics, and immense money power and media management has created it."
As per the first updates coming in from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is trailing Smriti Irani in the constituency. Irani had campaigned aggressively in Amethi this time, where she had lost to Gandhi in 2014.
Our expert panel notes that if the NDA comes back to power, the Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh governments could be in immediate danger, and the West Bengal government is likely to face increased instability. There is a risk to the democratic fabric of the country itself.
Unemployment, in the run-up to this election, had been at a 45-year high. Farm incomes have fallen to an 18-year low. Despite a mass of data suggesting multiple failures on an array of economic indicators, the BJP-led government decided to step into the fray with a communications plan that pitted sections of the electorate against each other. Early trends seem to indicate this rudimentary strategy isn’t as far off the mark as we might have liked.
As per NDTV, although BJP has taken lead in 329 seats, it seems to be trailing in 14 seats it had won. On the other hand, Congress, which is leading in 104 seats, has gained in 40 seats it had lost in 2014.
As per the Election Commission’s trends for 495 seats, BJP is leading in 269, Congress in 51, DMK in 20, and YSR Congress in 19.
The Election Commission has announced trends for 32 of the 42 constituencies in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress is leading in 20 and the BJP in 11. The BJP had waged a communally-charged campaign in the State, with the party’s supporters destroying the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on the day of the roadshow of BJP president Amit Shah.
It’s important to note that most of the trends so far are based on postal ballots and do not reflect any concrete results. The counting of EVM votes has only just begun.
It’s likely to be a long day. While you (and we) are still bright-eyed and even-spirited, here’s an opportunity to take a break from the frenetic postal ballot-based results. The Indian Women’s League, featuring the top football talent in the country, wrapped up last night with a win for Madurai’s Sethu FC. Newsclick’s Vaibhav Raghunandan has this bit on why it matters.
"My brother, in Australia, had a proper go at pollsters when the Labour Party in that country defied expectations and managed to steer clear of victory in the recent elections. We’re both hoping the pollsters are way off target again. “Let’s hope we don’t all get different versions of Trump,” he says."
– Siddhanth Aney
Prabir Purakayastha notes, "A collective opposition against the communal and toxic politics of BJP could not be forged, which reflects in these results, especially in North India."
Along with the Lok Sabha elections, Assembly elections were also conducted in Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress seems to have taken a massive lead. In Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal has taken a lead as per the trends so far.
Opposition has failed to stop Modi-Shah juggernaut. They have paid for lack of leadership, programme and strategy.
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) May 23, 2019
Song of the moment: Hardly subaltern but here’s a bit from a poet who retains relevance even decades after leaving this side of things. “Ship of Fools” from Morrison Hotel by James Morrison and the Doors.
The DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu seems to be on the way to destroy the AIADMK and BJP. Of the 38 seats whose trends have been announced, the DMK alliance is leading in 36. This is a complete reversal of the 2014 results.
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