The BJP has almost held on to its 2019 vote share of 37%. (Representational)
Defying last week's exit poll predictions, the Congress-led INDIA bloc gave tough competition to the incumbent BJP-led NDA government. However, the BJP-led NDA is ahead on 292 seats and is set to form government from a third consecutive term.
Despite counting of votes still underway, the picture of parties who got a major share of votes in this election is fairly clear.
According to the election commission of India, BJP is running ahead with the biggest share of votes at 36.76%, followed by the Congress at 21.46%.
Both the leading parties have more or less maintained their vote shares as compared to 2019. The BJP has almost held on to its 2019 vote share of 37%. The Congress has so far made a slight improvement of 1.46% as compared to 2019's 20% vote share.
The BJP has so far won 239 seats and is eyeing a third term in the power, a decline from 2019's 303 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, has made a big gain by almost doubling its standing in the Lok Sabha since the last time. The Congress has won 100 seats as compared to 52 seats in 2019.
The vote share this year has dropped sharply following BJP and Congress. The other three parties that made a place for themselves in the top five are - Samajwadi Party (4.63%), All India Trinamool Congress (4.33%) and Bahujan Samaj Party (2.06%).
The BJP's '400 paar' aim for this election has fallen flat as the party, along with its NDA allies has so far managed to get leads in 291 seats. However, the fairly new INDIA bloc, within months of its inception, has exceeded all expectations and gained leads in staggering 233 seats, giving a tough competition to the incumbent government.