LIVE: Election Results 2024

The Election Commission of India has started declaring results of the 18th Lok Sabha Elections and celebrations have started at party offices. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping to secure a historic third term as the BJP-led NDA is predicted to get a majority once again.

In the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, over 8,391 candidates are contesting for 543 seats in the lower house of the parliament. Over 96 crore citizens were eligible and the seven-phase election, which started on April 19, ended on June 1. Considering the number of voters and the sheer size of India, the Lok Sabha elections become the largest democratic franchise in human history.

The first phase witnessed 66.14 per cent voter turnout on 102 seats. In the second phase, a 66.71 per cent turnout was reported on 89 seats. The third phase witnessed a 62.1 per cent turnout. Phase four witnessed 69.16 per cent voter turnout on 96 seats. The fifth phase saw a 62.2 per cent turnout. The penultimate phase, in which the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi were in contest, saw a turnout of 63.6 per cent.

In the last phase, fifty-seven seats were in the fray in the last phase of the polls - nine were from West Bengal, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Bihar, six from Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh, three from Jharkhand, and the lone seat of Union Territory Chandigarh.

In the last Lok Sabha election in 2019, the BJP won 303 seats and the BJP-led NDA alliance managed to cross the 350 mark. Congress settled with 52 seats - marginally higher than its 2014 score of 44 - and the UPA alliance had a total score of 91.

India has witnessed a 104 per cent increase in the number of political parties contesting in Lok Sabha elections from 2009 to 2024, according to a report from the Association of Democratic Reforms.