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• Leads & wins: NDA ahead in 289 seats, INDIA bloc in 236, Others 18
• Supriya Sule triumphed over her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Sule polled 7,32, 312 votes while Sunetra got 5,73, 979 votes
• BJP's Yogender Chandoliya wins Northwest Delhi seat by more than 2.90 lakh votes, defeats Congress candidate Udit Raj, says EC
• Akhilesh Yadav wins Kannauj seat by margin of 1,70,000 votes over his nearest rival BJP MP Subrata Pathak, reports PTI
• JMM's Nalin Soren defeats BJP's Sita Soren in Jharkhand's Dumka LS seat by 22,527 votes, says EC
• Former Chhattisgarh CM and Congress candidate Bhupesh Baghel loses from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat to sitting BJP MP Santosh Pandey.
• BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut defeats Congress's Vikramaditya Singh by 74,755 votes
• BJP candidate and Union minister Kaushal Kishore loses Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha seat by margin of 70,292 votes: Election Commission.
• Congress wins both Lok Sabha seats in strife-torn Manipur, according to EC: PTI
  
• BJP wins 25 Lok Sabha seats, including Surat, out of 26 in Gujarat; misses hat-trick of clean sweep as Congress bags Banaskantha, reports PTI
  
• Rahul Gandhi wins Wayanad LS seat in Kerala with margin of over 3.5 lakh votes, reports PTI
  
• Union minister Giriraj Singh wins Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in Bihar by 81,480 votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• BJP's Manoj Tiwari wins North East Delhi seat, trounces Cong rival Kanhaiya Kumar by margin of over 1.38 lakh votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• Ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana wins Gandey bypoll by 27,000 votes against BJP's Dilip Kumar Verma: Official, reports PTI
  
• Union minister Subhas Sarkar defeated by TMC's Arup Chakraborty by 32,778 votes in Bankura seat of Bengal, reports PTI
  
• BJP's Harsh Malhotra defeats AAP's Kuldeep Kumar by 93,663 votes in East Delhi seat: EC, reports PTI
  
• AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi wins Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency for fifth consecutive term, reports PTI
  
• Union minister Jitendra Singh wins Udhampur Lok Sabha seat for third time, reports PTI
  
• DMK's A Raja wins from Nilgiris LS seat in TN defeating BJP's L Murugan by a margin of 2,40,585 votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• BJP's Arun Govil wins Meerut seat in UP against SP's Sunita Verma by margin of 10,585 votes, reports PTI
  
• Union Minister and BJP candidate from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Balyan loses to Samajwadi Party's Harendra Singh Malik by over 24,000 votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• Union minister and BJP candidate Ajay Mishra Teni loses Lakhimpur Kheri seat, SP's Utkarsh Verma wins by margin of 34,329 votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• Cong's Manish Tewari wins Chandigarh seat, defeats BJP's Sanjay Tandon: Election Commission, reports PTI
  
• TMC wrests Medinipur Lok Sabha seat from BJP as June Maliah defeats Agnimitra Paul by 27,191 votes: EC, reports PTI
  

• Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy retains Secunderabad LS seat with a margin of over 49,000 votes, reports PTI
  
• Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy wins from Pulivendula assembly segment, reports PTI
  
• This is a victory of people and democracy: Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge in his first press conference after LS poll results
  
• Union minister and BJP candidate Kiren Rijiju wins Arunachal West LS seat, defeating Nabam Tuki of Congress by over 1 lakh votes: EC, reports PTI
  
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi won by 1,52,513 votes from Varanasi, reports PTI

• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wins from Wayanad constituency
  

• Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son Karan Bhushan Singh wins Kaiserganj seat with a margin of 1,48,843 votes: EC, reports PTI

• Congress candidate Dharamavira Gandhi on Tuesday won the Patiala parliamentary constituency, defeating AAP nominee Balbir Singh by a margin of 14,831 votes, according to the Election Commission, reports PTI

• Congress stalwart Kumari Selja defeats BJP's Ashok Tanwar, wins Sirsa seat by margin of 2,68,497 votes: EC data, reports PTI

• Chandrashekhar of Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) defeats Om Kumar of BJP, wins Nagina seat by 1,51,473 votes, reports PTI

• PM Narendra Modi now leads by 1,17,540 votes in Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, reports PTI

• Prajwal Revanna of JD (S) trails by 40,568 votes in Hassan, Karnataka, reports PTI

• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi surpasses 2019 victory margin of Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli seat, leads by 2,22,219 votes: EC, reports PTI

• In the biggest single-day fall in four years, benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty plunged by nearly 6 per cent on Tuesday as counting trends showed the ruling BJP may fall short of a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections.Reversing its Monday's sharp gains of over 3 per cent, the 30-share BSE Sensex nosedived 4,389.73 points or 5.74 per cent to close at a more than two-month low of 72,079.05. In the day trade, the barometer tanked 6,234.35 points or 8.15 per cent to hit a nearly five-month low level of 70,234.43.The NSE Nifty tumbled 1,982.45 points or 8.52 per cent to 21,281.45 during the day. Later, it ended at 21,884.50, a sharp decline of 1,379.40 points or 5.93 per cent. Sensex and Nifty had previously declined by around 13 per cent on March 23, 2020 when lockdown was imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports PTI
  

• BJP candidate Lumbaram wins Jalore Lok Sabha seat by margin of 2,01,543 votes, defeating Cong's Vaibhav Gehlot, reports PTI

• Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai wins Mumbai South-Central seat by margin of 53,384 votes, defeating sitting Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale, reports PTI

• BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar concedes defeat in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. After trailing by over 20,000 votes behind BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, Congress' Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday regained the lead with a margin of over 11,000 votes, reports PTI

• BJP's Hasmukhbhai Patel wins Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat by 4,61,755 votes defeating Himmatsinh Prahladsnh Patel of the Congress, reports PTI

• HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister of Bihar, won the Gaya Lok Sabha seat by 1,01,812 votes on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission, reports PTI

• DMK candidate for Erode Parliamentary constituency K E Prakash leads by over 1.4 lakh votes against his nearest AIADMK rival P Ashok Kumar, reports PTI

• BJP's Chudasama Naran wins Junagadh Lok Sabha seat by 135494 votes defeating Jotva Arjan of Indian National Congress, reports PTI

• BJP sitting MP Shankar Lalwani wins by record margin of 11,75,092 votes from Indore Lok Sabha seat; 2,18,674 votes for NOTA, reports PTI

• Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani wins Gulbarga seat in Karnataka by 27,205 votes, reports PTI

• Former CM Omar Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) trails by 194996 votes in Baramulla constituency of J&K; Independent Abdul Rashid Sheikh leads by 194996 votes, reports PTI

• JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday won the Mandya seat in Karnataka with a margin of 2,84,620 votes. The former Chief Minister defeated Venkataramane Gowda (also known as Star Chandru) of the Congress. According to the Election Commission, Kumaraswamy secured 8,51,881 votes, while Gowda got 5,67,261, reports PTI

• Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Aam Aadmi Party) wins by 1,72,560 votes from Sangrur (Punjab) defeats Congress's Sukhpal Khaira, reports PTI

• JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy wins the Mandya seat with a margin of 2,84,620 votes, reports PTI

• Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has gained an unassailable lead of 6.15 lakh votes over his nearest Congress rival Sonal Patel in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, officials said on Tuesday. Shah has so far got 7.96 lakh votes, while Patel received 1.81 lakh votes, they said, reports PTI

• Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, was leading by about 26,000 votes over her nearest BJP rival Dilip Kumar Verma in the Gandey assembly bypoll, election officials said,reports PTI

• Leads: In Bihar, NDA is ahead in 33 seats, INDIA in 7: Dekoder Digital

• Rahul Gandhi gains lead of over 2 lakh votes in Wayanad LS seat

• Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma is leading by a comfortable margin of over 88,000 votes in the Amethi parliamentary seat against the BJP's Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019, reports PTI

• Congress's Charanjit Singh Channi wins Jalandhar LS seat in Punjab, defeats BJP's Sushil Rinku by over 1.75 lakh votes: EC, reports PTI

• Union minister Raosaheb Danve trailing by 9,554 votes in Jalna Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra after 10th round of counting, say officials, reports PTI

• Sensex crashes 6,126.30 points to 70,342.48; Nifty tumbles 1,958.25 points to 21,305.65

• Leads: NDA ahead in 301 seats, INDIA bloc in 224, Others in 18: Dekoder Digital
  

• NCP (SP) workers began early celebrations in Maharashtra's Baramati Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday as the party's sitting MP, Supriya Sule, was leading over her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar of the NCP by more than 14,000 votes, reports PTI

• Arun Govil, who played Ram in the megaserial Ramayan, is trailing from the Meerut Lok Sabha constituency by over 20,000 votes. Samajwadi Party's Sunita Verma is currently in the lead from the seat, as per trends available till 1.30 pm, reports PTI

• PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti concedes defeat from Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat against NC leader Mian Altaf, reports PTI

• BJP's Manju Sharma wins Jaipur seat by margin of 3,31,767 votes against Cong candidate and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas: EC data, reports PTI

• Congress candidates are ahead in four assembly bypoll seats in Himachal Pradesh, while two of the six Congress rebels who are now BJP candidates are leading from their respective seats, as per Election Commission trends. All six seats in the state are seeing a close contest, according to EC trends, reports PTI

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are leading from their Varanasi and Lucknow Lok Sabha seats, respectively.However, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey are trailing from Amethi and Chandauli, respectively, reports PTI

• The BJP is leading in all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, according to trends on the Election Commission (EC) website. (PTI)
  
• The NDA appeared falling significantly short of its target of bagging 45-plus of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, going by the latest trends in counting of votes. The BJP was leading in 12 seats and allies Shiv Sena in 7 and NCP in 1 constituency as per the latest trends. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) seemed to be faring rather well, leading in 27 seats. A Congressman turned independent was leading in Sangli seat. While the Congress was leading in 11, Shiv Sena (UBT) was leading in 9 and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) was ahead in 7 seats as of 1 pm on Tuesday as the counting of votes, which began at 8 am, progressed. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the BJP won 23 seats while its then ally Shiv Sena (undivided) bagged 18. The then undivided NCP had bagged four constituencies, whereas the Congress could win just one seat. The BJP-led NDA had set the bar high this time with a target to win 45 plus constituencies in Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, a total of 35 MPs who won in 2019 were renominated for the 2024 elections. However, 19 of these MPs are now trailing. The BJP is worst-hit, with 12 of its 17 renominated MPs trailing. The Shiv Sena had renominated eight MPs, of which 5 are trailing. (PTI)
  
• BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar increased his lead over Congress' Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 22,000 votes, according to Election Commission figures on Tuesday. During the initial hours of counting, the fight between Chandrasekhar and Tharoor was neck-and-neck with each taking a lead of a few thousand votes. However, by noon, the BJP leader gained a healthy lead over Tharoor, who is hoping to win a fourth time from Thiruvananthapuram LS seat. At noon, EC figures showed Chandrasekhar getting 1,77,269 votes and Tharoor receiving 1,54,309 votes. CPI's Pannian Ravindran was third with 1,22,258 votes. (PTI)

• Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav are leading by a comfortable margin in Uttar Pradesh. The party had fielded five members of the Yadav clan in the Lok Sabha elections. While Akhilesh Yadav is leading by a margin of 61,351 votes from BJP's Subrat Pathak in Kannauj, Dimple Yadav is leading in Mainpuri by a margin of 68,261 votes against her closest rival, BJP's Jaiveer Singh, according to the EC. In Azamgarh, SP's Dharmendra Yadav is leading by a margin of 45,069 votes against BJP's Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua, while in Firozabad party leader Ram Gopal Yadav's son Akshay Yadav is leading by a margin of 56,986 votes against BJP's Vishwadeep Singh. In Badaun, SP leader Shivpal Yadav's son Aditya Yadav is trailing behind BJP's Durvijay Singh Shakya by 16,751 votes. The party had initially given a ticket to Shivpal on this seat but later gave it to his son Aditya. (PTI)

• The ruling Congress and BJP appeared to be sharing the honours with BRS ceding ground in Telangana as they were leading in eight seats each out of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state at noon on Tuesday (PTI)
  
• Union Tribal Affairs and Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda is trailing in Jharkhand's prestigious Khunti (ST) seat by about 41,377 votes over his nearest Congress rival Kalicharan Munda, as per the Election Commission
• The Congress was leading in seven seats in Punjab and the AAP in three, according to the Election Commission trends. The Shiromani Akali Dal was leading in one parliamentary constituency besides two independents, including radical preacher Amritpal Singh. (PTI)
  

• Leads: In UP, INDIA bloc ahead in 45 seats, NDA in 34, Others 1: Dekoder Digital
• Leads: In Gujarat, BJP ahead in 24 seats, Cong in 2: Dekoder Digital
  

• Leads: The Congress was leading in five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, the BJP in four and the AAP in one on Tuesday, according to Election Commission trends. (PTI)

• Actor Kangana Ranaut is on the way to become a parliamentarian as the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi is leading by a margin of over 40,000 votes, according to Election Commission trends available till 11.45 am (PTI)

• 'Ramayan' actor Arun Govil, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, is also ahead of his nearest rival by over 40,000 votes.

• Misa Bharti, RJD candidate and elder daughter of party supremo Lalu Prasad, is leading by 26,816 votes over her nearest rival, Ram Kripal Yadav of BJP, in Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency.However, Rohini Acharya, Lalu's other daughter who is an RJD nominee from Saran Lok Sabha constituency, is trailing by 6,633 votes over her nearest rival and BJP candidate Rajiv Pratap Rudy. (PTI)

• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi increases lead by over one lakh votes against nearest rival in Kerala's Wayanad LS seat: EC

• BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar increases lead by over 5,000 votes against Congress' Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram LS seat

• Leads: In Uttar Pradesh, INDIA bloc ahead in 42 seats, BJP in 37 and Others in 1: Dekoder Digital
• Leads: In Maharashtra, INDIA bloc ahead in 28 seats, NDA in 18, Others 1: Dekoder Digital
  
• Leads: In Rajasthan, NDA ahead in 14 seats, INDIA bloc in 11: Dekoder Digital
  
• Leads: In Assam, NDA ahead in 10 seats, INDIA bloc in 4: Dekoder Digital
  
• Leads: In Kerala, INDIA bloc ahead in 16 seats, NDA in 2, Others 2: Dekoder Digital
  
• Leads: In Odisha, the BJP was leading in 17 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats while the BJD and the Congress were ahead in two seats each, as per Election Commission trends available till 10.45 am, reports PTI
  

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was trailing by 1,158 to his nearest rival Laxman Bag of the BJP in Kantabanji assembly seat, as per the ECI. However, the BJD supremo was leading by 1,163 votes over his nearest rival Sisir Kumar Mishra in Hinjili assembly seat, the other constituency he is contesting, in Ganjam district: PTI

• BJP's Preneet Kaur trails by over 4,700 votes on Punjab's Patiala seat against Congress candidate Dharamvira Gandhi: PTI
• BJP's Manoj Tiwari leading by 43,649 votes against Congress's Kanhaiya Kumar in North East Delhi constituency: EC
  

• The BJP-led NDA was leading in 280 seats to cross the majority in trends available for 528 seats, while the Congress also crossed the 100-mark in terms of leads, according to Election Commission data

• Leads: 543/543 - NDA 294, INDIA bloc 219, Others 30: Dekoder Digital

• Sensex tanks 3,311.87 points to 73,156.91; Nifty tumbles 1,102.55 points to 22,161.35: PTI

• Leads: In Bihar, NDA ahead in 32 seats, INDIA bloc in 8: Dekoder Digital

• The BJP was leading in all five Lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand, according to the Election Commission trends. Ajay Bhatt is leading by 11,6296 votes in Nainital, Ajay Tamta by 56,292 votes in Almora, Anil Baluni by 30,355 votes in Garhwal (Pauri), Trivendra Singh Rawat by 20,101 votes in Haridwar and Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah by 22,531 votes in Tehri Garhwal. Independent candidate in Tehri Garhwal, Boby Panwar, a poll debutante, emerged as the closest rival to the BJP relegating Jot Singh Gunsola of the Congress to the third position in the initial rounds of counting: PTI

• Amit Shah leads by over 2.31 lakh votes in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat

• Congress candidate S Supongmeren Jamir was leading over his nearest rival Chumben Murry of the NDPP by over 23,500 votes in the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland, according to the Election Commission.

• Independent candidate Mohmad Haneefa is leading in the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency over his Congress and BJP rivals, according to the initial figures given by the Election Commission

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a lead of 21,629 votes over Congress's Ajay Rai in Varanasi LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a lead of 436 votes over Congress's Ajay Rai in Varanasi LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi trailing behind Congress's Ajay Rai by 6,223 votes in Varanasi LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has a lead of 2,126 votes over BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• BJP's Smriti Irani trailing behind Congress's Kishori Lal Sharma by 3,916 votes in Amethi LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• BJP's Lallu Singh trailing by 4,791 votes against SP's Awadhesh Prasad in Faizabad LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC data

• SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has a lead of 3,442 votes over BJP's Subrat Pathak in Kannauj LS seat in Uttar Pradesh: EC, reports PTI

• PDP president Mehbooba Mufti trailing in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, according to Election Commission trends: PTI

• BJP takes early lead in 17 seats in Karnataka, Prajwal Revanna ahead in Hassan

• BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut leading by margin of 14,734 votes in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi LS seat: EC, reports PTI

• Union minister Kailash Chaudhary trailing behind Cong's Ummeda Ram Beniwal in Rajasthan's Barmer by margin of 41,987 votes: EC, reports PTI

• BJP candidate and Union minister Ajay Mishra trailing behind Samajwadi Party's Utkarsh Verma in UP's Kheri by 4,730 votes: EC.

• Sensex tanks 1,715.78 points to 74,753 in early trade; Nifty drops 539.1 points to 222,724.80: PTI

• UP leads: INDIA ahead in 42 seats, BJP in 31, Others in 1: Dekoder Digital
  
• Karnataka: BJP+ leading in 17, Cong in 11: Dekoder Digital
  
• In Bihar, BJP+ leads in 29 seats, Cong + in 9: Dekoder Digital
  
• BJP ahead in all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh: PTI
  

• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is leading by a big margin of over 18,000 votes against his nearest rivals in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, according to the initial figures given by the Election Commission: PTI

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were leading from the Varanasi, Lucknow, Rae Barelli and the Kannauj Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, respectively, according to news channels. Out of the 80 seats in the state, the BJP was leading in 51 while the INDIA bloc was ahead in 23, according to trends for 74 seats: PTI

• Maharashtra trends: BJP leading in 24, Cong+ in 20, Others in 4 seats: Dekoder Digital

• BJP leads in 6, Congress in 4 of 14 LS seats in Assam: PTI

• AAP and the Congress were leading from four Lok Sabha seats each, while the BJP and SAD from one seat each in Punjab, according to initial trends: PTI
• TMC and BJP locked in a neck-and-neck contest in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal as it was leading in 19 seats, whereas the BJP was leading in 17 seats after the initial round of counting of postal ballots: PTI
  

• BJP-led NDA surged ahead with leads in more than 200 parliamentary seats out of 350 for which trends were available, with Opposition INDIA bloc ahead in 120, according to television reports: PTI
• India Today gave leads in 205 seats to the NDA, while the INDIA bloc was ahead in 129; ABP News gave 230 to the NDA and 120 to the opposition alliance; and NDTV showed NDA leading in 194 seats with INDIA bloc closing in on 135 seats: PTI
  

• Bihar: HAM (Secular) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi leading
• MP: BJP leading in 11 Lok Sabha seats, Congress in 1; Scindia ahead in Guna
  
• TDP-Janasena combine lead in 22 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh
  

• Gujarat: BJP leading in 10 LS seats, Cong in 3; Amit Shah ahead in Gandhinagar: PTI

• In they key state of Uttar Pradesh, BJP leads in 43 seats, Cong and SP in 18, according to Prannoy Roy's new venture, Dekoder Digital

• NDA leads in early trends, reports NDTV
• West Bengal trends: BJP leading in 15, Trinamul leading in 13, Left-Congress leading in 3
  
• West Bengal early trends 31/42: BJP leading in 17, Trinamul Congress leading in 11, Left-Congress leading in 3: ABP Ananda
  
• TMC and BJP locked in a neck-and-neck contest in West Bengal as counting of postal ballots for the Lok Sabha polls was underway, with the former having a slight edge: PTI
  

• Early trend: NDA leading in 230, INDIA bloc in 141, Others in 15 seats in information available from 386 of the 543 seats, according to Dekoder Digital

• First trend: Rahul Gandhi leading from Wayanad: India Today

• Early trends of counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra indicate Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, and Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, are leading from their constituencies

• Kanagana Ranaut, Anurag Thakur leading in Mandi and Hamirpur respectively: CNN-News 18

Prime Minister Narendra Modi eyes a record-equalling third straight term in power amid the INDIA Opposition bloc's hope of springing a surprise as counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election gets underway on Tuesday, bringing an end to a marathon polling exercise stretching over 80 days.

While most experts have long seen the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as the favourite, a lot is at stake for the ruling combine in terms of the scale of victory it can pull off and new territories it can conquer. The Opposition's stakes are higher still amid its reducing national footprint.

Exit polls have been, however, unanimous in their prediction that the NDA is closer to realising Modi's ambitious target of "400 paar" for his alliance than the INDIA bloc is to crossing even the 180 mark, one-third of the total number of seats.

Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission (EC).

Acrimonious campaign

In the run-up to the counting, the campaign acrimony between the two battling camps has spilled over into the post-poll trading of accusations after the exit polls predicted a massive win for the incumbent alliance, a forecast summarily dismissed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as "Modi media poll".

INDIA bloc leaders, who have been raising doubts over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), have accused the Prime Minister of sending a signal to the bureaucracy through these "fantasy" exit polls and marched to the EC, urging the poll watchdog to follow the counting guidelines.

In its counter-attack, the BJP has accused its rivals of trying to undermine the integrity of India's electoral process and asked the EC to prevent any attempt of "violence and unrest" during the counting of votes.

Is the Congress up to it?

The results will show if the Congress has it in its organisation and leadership to challenge the BJP amid its reducing footprint across the country since 2014. It has failed to get even the main Opposition party status in two consecutive Lok Sabha polls and has been reduced to a pale shadow of itself in a number of states, especially in the Hindi heartland.

Its leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and principal campaigner Rahul Gandhi, have claimed that their alliance will get 295 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, marking an end of the Modi era.

INDIA bloc leaders believe that their alliance has been able to shape the poll narrative around its planks of welfarism and an alleged threat to the Constitution from an all-powerful saffron onslaught, and will get popular support.

If the BJP retains power, Modi will equal the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's record of leading his party to three straight electoral victories.

Left, regional satraps

An uncertain future also hangs over the fate of the Left, besides many regional parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress, which are in power in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively.

Modi has spearheaded a concerted BJP push to gain further in strength in the two eastern states, where the party surprised everyone by emerging as the powerful second force in 2019, and the exit polls have suggested that it may topple the two regional parties from the top position in these polls.

Assembly polls were held in Odisha alongside the national election and the BJP and the BJD, which has been in power in the state since 2000 under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's leadership, are locked in a fierce battle for power. Assembly polls were also held simultaneously in the YSRCP-ruled Andhra Pradesh.

Can the BJP breach the South?

Another issue that has drawn the limelight is whether the BJP will be able to emerge as a strong force in Tamil Nadu and the Left-ruled Kerala, two states where it has currently no seats but is predicted to win a few this time.

A poor show by the Left will further darken its prospects nationwide as Kerala is the only state where it remains a strong force after being knocked of reckoning in its former strongholds of Bengal and Tripura.

Always confident of his return to power, Modi has already penned an article about his vision for the country, posted on X about people's support to the NDA and rejection of the opposition, and held a meeting with top officials on the "new government's agenda" for the first 100 days.

Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray

The results are also expected to spell out the people's verdict on the fate of regional stalwarts like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, whose parties have joined hands with the BJP and who have run an intense campaign to win over people's support for their factions.

The verdict will also be out on a number of Union ministers, including Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Dharmendra Pradhan, all Rajya Sabha members asked by the BJP to contest the polls, and former chief ministers, such as the BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Basavaraj Bommai, Trivendra Singh Rawat and the Congress's Digvijay Singh and Bhupesh Baghel.

Besides Modi, who contested the election from Varanasi for a third straight term, senior members of his cabinet, such as Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, are in the fray, and the margins of their win will be watched out for as well.