Modi could win third term, polls predict
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to win a third consecutive term in office, exit polls suggest.
Analysts warn the polls, released by various news agencies, have often been wrong in the past and are not impartial.
However, they have placed Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the frontrunner in the general election.
The BJP, the main opposition Congress party and regional rivals battled it out in a fierce campaign over seven phases of polling.
Results will be announced on 4 June.
A party or coalition needs 272 seats in parliament to form a government.
The BJP led-coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), will cross this target - according to exit polls, which forecast it being close to taking about two-thirds of the seats.
In his first comments after voting ended, Mr Modi claimed victory without referring to the exit polls.
"I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government," he wrote on X, without providing evidence of his claim.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: What do exit polls predict?
Two major pollsters predicted that the NDA might meet its agenda on "Ab ki baar, 400 paar". The News 24-Today's Chanakya said that the NDA may win 400 seats with a margin of error of 15 seats. According to the survey, India would win 107 seats and the other 36.
The India Today-Axis My India survey predicted that NDA may bag 361-401 seats. The INDIA bloc would, according to the pollster, win 131-166 seats and others would get 8-20 seats.
The INDIA bloc was formed by opposition parties to challenge the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. It includes parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).
Other surveys predicted NDA would return to power but not touch the 400-mark.
The ABP-CVoter survey claimed that the NDA will win 353-383 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 152-182 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The News18 Mega Exit Poll predicted that NDA would claim 355-370 seats and 125-140 seats would go to INDIA. Others, according to the agency, would win 42-52 seats.
According to the Times Now-ETG poll, the NDA will win 358 seats, followed by 152 for India and 33 for others.
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Among other pollsters, the Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the opposition alliance. The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats, respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169.
How did the parties perform in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA tally was 353. The Congress bagged 53 seats, and its allies 38.
If the Saturday exit polls are true, the tally in the 2024 elections would be similar to the results in 2019.
PM Modi exudes confidence ahead of counting day
On Saturday, after the final phase of polling concluded and exit poll results were declared, PM Modi took to social media platform X and said that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government. He also slammed the "opportunistic INDI Alliance".
In a series of posts, Modi said, "I can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government."
"The opportunistic INDI Alliance failed to strike a chord with the voters. They are casteist, communal and corrupt," he added.
BJP president J P Nadda said that people have voted for a capable, powerful, developed, and self-reliant India and to put aside appeasement, nepotism, and corruption. He exuded confidence that his party will win more than 370 Lok Sabha seats and the NDA over 400.
Congress call exit polls 'orchestrated'
However, the Congress party rejected the exit poll results by saying that they were "orchestrated" by PM Modi.
In a post on social media platform X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The man whose exit is certain on June 4th has had these exit polls orchestrated. The INDIA Janbandhan will definitely get a minimum of 295 seats, which is a clear and decisive majority."
The party's social media head, Supriya Shrinate, told the news agency ANI, "This is a government exit poll, this is Narendra Modi's exit poll." Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats.
"We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders. This is a survey of people. People have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put it out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality," he said.
What are the exit polls saying?
Prime Minister Modi came into this election with resounding popularity, but his main rival - the leader of the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi - and a coalition of opposition parties gathered significant momentum through the course of the lengthy election campaign.
Now an aggregate of six exit polls forecasts big wins for the BJP-led NDA, but such surveys are not always reliable.
Though the individual numbers vary, they predict that the NDA will get between 355 and 380 seats.
The INDIA bloc is expected to get between 125 and 165 seats, according to the Reuters news agency.
On its own, the BJP may win about 327 seats, not quite meeting its 370-seat target.
Mr Modi is one of the most popular leaders that India has seen in recent decades
A really big election
India is the world's most populous country, with 1.4 billion people, and holding a nationwide election is nothing short of a Herculean task.
Some 969 million citizens were eligible to cast their ballot, which is equal to the populations of the US, Russia, Japan, Britain, Brazil, France and Belgium.
What made headlines this election?
Polling for the election, which concluded just hours ago, began on 19 April.
The season was marked by fiery speeches by politicians (some of them controversial), numerous rallies, diatribes, jibes and propaganda as political parties looked to outsmart their opponents - on the ground and even online.
And there wasn't a dearth of headline-making incidents. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest in a liquor policy case days before polling began drew sharp criticism from opposition leaders and even sections of the media.
Opposition leaders accused the BJP government of trying to silence rivals and deny them a level playing field - which the BJP denies.
A court granted Mr Kejriwal bail on 10 May to campaign for the elections. However, he has to return to jail on 2 June.
The election was also overshadowed by reports of politicians and party workers tampering with voting machines, Muslims being denied their right to vote in some areas and parties flouting the Model Code of Conduct - guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure free and fair elections.
Opposition leaders also accused the commission of not acting on their complaints against the BJP - an allegation the ECI has denied.
What did people vote for this election?
The inauguration of the Ram temple, which was one of the BJP's biggest poll promises this election, and the government's welfare schemes are expected to benefit the ruling party.
But the high unemployment rate and price rises, especially of food and fuel, were also at the top of many voters' minds.
The election also came amid allegations from the opposition, activists and global rights organisations that Indian democracy is under threat. It is an issue that may have influenced the way people cast their votes.