Lok Sabha polls 2019: Election Commission to start counting of votes for parliamentary polls in 542 seats at 8 am

The final result of the mega electoral exercise to elect the world's largest democracy will be announced today. Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am and the clear picture of who will lead the nation for the next five years will emerge in the evening. 

Over 8,000 candidates

More than 8,000 candidates were in the fray for 542 seats across the nation. Over 67 per cent of the 90.99 crore electors had cast their vote in the seven-phase elections.

Late result expected 

It is suggested that the counting of votes and the announcement of results may get delayed due to tallying of voter-verified paper audit trail slips with EVM count. The exercise will take place for the first time.

The exercise will take place in five polling stations per assembly segment which effectively means that out of nearly 10.3 lakh polling stations, the EVM-VVPAT matching will take place in 20600 such stations, news agency PTI reported. 

What happens in case of a mismatch?

In such a situation, the results based on paper slip count will be considered as final.

The entire exercise of EVM-Paper trail machine matching will take an additional four to five hours.

What exit polls say

With the final phase of polling of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections coming to an end on May 19, exit polls predicted a thumping win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha polls. 

The party, along with its allies, is predicted to sweep a lion's share of the Hindi heartland of the nation including states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar as well as the national capital. 

Pollsters predicted a considerable loss for Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in terms of seat share in the state, though she is predicted to keep the majority. The BJP, which fared poorly in 2014 in the state is suggested to win seats in double-digit.  

The opposition

The opposition has dubbed the exit polls as wrong with many leaders rubbishing what the pollsters have predicted.

Eminent opposition leaders like Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Sitaram Yechury and Mayawati among others were seen scurrying around this week to meet one another and discuss post-poll strategy. 

NDA's resolution

PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah held a meeting with Union council of ministers on Tuesday which was later on followed by a dinner for NDA allies hoster by Shah. 

At the BJP-led ruling alliance meeting, which was attended by 36 parties, a resolution was passed, terming the 2019 general election decisive for the country and pledging to make India "strong, developed, prosperous and inclusive" by 2022 when India completes 75 years of its independence, party leader and Union minister Rajnath Singh told reporters.

Election result and stock market

Analysts suggest the stock markets soar further if PM Modi makes a comeback for the second term. 

The BSE Sensex index rose by its biggest amount in one day since September 2013 on Monday after exit polls showed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a second consecutive term.