After a marathon six-week, seven-phase voting, votes are being counted for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and results will be known today. The voting trends at 6 pm indicate Janata Dal United’s (JDU) Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh could well be playing a critical role in the formation of a new government.
At 6 pm, the trends show that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was leading with 293 seats. The INDIA bloc is trailing at 232.
After a decade-long wait, the Congress opened its account in Gujarat with the victory of Geniben Thakor from the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat. She defeated Rekha Chaudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a margin of 30,000 votes. Banaskantha has been a BJP stronghold, with Parbatbhai Patel winning the seat in 2019 by defeating Congress’s Parthi Bhatol by 368,000 votes and securing it in the 2014 elections as well.
In Punjab, the Congress registered victory in two seats and is leading in five constituencies, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won one seat and is ahead in two, according to the data by the Election Commission of India.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was leading in one parliamentary constituency, while the two Independents, including jailed Sikh leader Amritpal Singh, were also ahead.
In Kerala, the Congress-led UDF continues to maintain its lead in the majority of seats, as per 5 pm trends.
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In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress party won three Assembly bypoll seats and was ahead in one more seat, while the BJP was leading in two constituencies, as per 5 pm trends.
Congress leaders from Lahaul and Spiti, Sujanpur and Gagret seats have won the elections. BJP candidates are leading in Dharamshala and Barsar seats. In a triangular contest in Lahaul and Spiti bypoll, Congress candidate Anuradha Rana won by defeating her nearest rival independent candidate and former BJP minister Ram Lal Markanda by a margin of 1,960 votes.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading the Kannauj seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by a vote margin of 117,946. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate is trailing from Kannauj, the latest data by the Election Commission shows.
Meanwhile, Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and leader of the National Conference, conceded defeat in the Baramulla constituency in North Kashmir as independent candidate Er Rashid won with over 100,000 votes.
Additionally, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti conceded defeat from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat against NC leader Mian Altaf of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. The margin of loss was huge as the former Chief Minister lost by 2,36,730.