The ruling BJP will form a government comfortably, as it did in 2014, predicted the poll of exit polls yesterday, after the completion of the final phase of elections. The poll of polls, an aggregate of the exit polls, said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA, will win 302 of 542 Lok Sabha seats. The poll of polls said the Congress and its allies would win 122 seats.
The declaration of the poll of polls may have an effect on the opposition's efforts to cobble together an anti-BJP front in a bid to form the next government, although exit polls often do not get it right.
Earlier today, the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP said its chief Mayawati would not hold meetings with opposition leaders in Delhi today, reported news agency ANI, quoting senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra.
She was expected to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu among other opposition leaders in Delhi. Mr Naidu met the BSP chief on Saturday in Lucknow.
He also met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Sunday as last phase of national elections was held in 59 parliamentary seats across seven states and one union territory. The TDP chief flew to West Bengal today and met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mr Naidu was criticised by BJP ally Shiv Sena earlier today. "Why Chandrababu Naidu is exhausting himself without any reason? Hope his current excitement last till May 23. We wish him luck for the same," the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.
Here are the Highlights of Lok Sabha Elections 2019:
The voting was for the Lok Sabha polls. But Karnataka's Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government is feeling the heat after exit polls indicated that the BJP and allies were all set to come back to power in the centre.
Mr Nath's statement comes after BJP, in a letter to Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, said the Madhya Pradesh government is in a minority.
"I am writing a letter to the Governor for convening a special session of MP Assembly shortly. We want discussion important issues like the farm loan waiver and (to) test the government's strength," Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Gopal Bhargava was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, after meeting with alliance partner Mayawati on Monday, spoke about prepping for "the next step", ahead of results on May 23 Thursday.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley launched an unsparing attack on the Gandhi family that is at the helm of affairs in the Congress, a day after exit polls predicted a mammoth win for his party in the Lok Sabha Elections.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the exit polls are not the "final decision" but indicate that the BJP will once again come to power, riding on the development work done by the NDA government.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu continues his spree of post-election meetings with one in Kolkata today -- with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Indian equity benchmarks closed at record highs after exit polls predicted win for Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the recently concluded general elections. The S&P BSE Sensex surged 3.75 per cent or 1,422 points to close at record high of 39,353 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 3.69 per cent or 421 points to end at an all-time high of 11,828. The markets staged a gap-up opening after the poll of exit polls conducted by NDTV showed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coming to power with 302 out of 543 parliamentary seats.
BJP President Amit Shah will host a dinner for NDA allies tomorrow, ahead of results for the national election on Thursday. The dinner-cum-meet comes after exit polls predictions of a comfortable win for the NDA.
अब अगले क़दम की तैयारी... pic.twitter.com/jrnI4TNoNK
- Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 20, 2019
Exit polls that have predicted a huge win for the BJP in the national election and a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been described as "a lie" by a key BJP ally in the south. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami said, "It's a lie by exit polls".
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav reaches BSP chief Mayawati's residence in Lucknow a day after #ExitPoll2019
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 20, 2019
(File photo) #PollOfPolls #ElectionsWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/SCVcIqdVXw
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today asked the UP governor to remove minister OP Rajbhar. Mr Rajbhar, who had been part of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh since 2017, had publicly criticized the Chief Minister for nearly a year. Read here