Congress admits India poll defeat

India’s governing Congress party has admitted defeat as early election results give a strong lead to the main opposition BJP. One senior Congress leader, Rajeev Shukla, said: “We accept defeat. We are ready to sit in the opposition.” There were already scenes of joy, ahead of the announcement, at the offices of the BJP, which is led by Narendra Modi. Early results suggested they would easily secure the 272 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. The final results are due later on Friday. Voter turnout in the mammoth nine-phase general election was a record 66.38%, beating the previous 1984 poll record. About 551 million votes from more than 1.8 million electronic voting machines are being tallied to determine the fortunes of 8,251 candidates.
India Elections
The India election is the world’s biggest exercise in democracy, with 814 million eligible voters.
It started five weeks ago and was held in nine phases for security and logistical reasons.
A total of 551 million votes have been cast, with a record 66.38% voter turnout.
Election officials are counting at 989 centres, with more than 1,100 observers supervising the process.
Hundreds of thousands of security officers have also been deployed at counting centres.
India’s parliament has 543 seats. The party or alliance which wins the majority forms the government.
A total of 8,251 candidates stood for election, according to BBC.