Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led the BJP to a stunning and historic victory in the Lok Sabha battle, with the ruling party itself set to win 303 seats in a marked improvement over its 2014 showing that left the opposition dazed and demoralized.
The BJP-led NDA is poised to get 348 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats where polling took place in a seven-phase election. The development sent the Sensex breaching the 40,000-mark as India Inc celebrated.
Late night Election Commission figures showed that the BJP had won 251 seats and was leading in 51. The Congress won 40 and was leading in 12, while Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has won 15 and was leading in seven. Congress’ ally DMK has won 16 seats and was leading in seven.