All India

US President Donald Trump on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his "big" election victory, saying "great things" are in store for bilateral ties between the two nations with the Indian premier's re-election.

In a lengthy Instagram post Thursday, stand-up comedian Tanmay Bhat apologised to his former colleagues at AIB for failing to live up to the "ideals" he himself had probated and said he would strive to make women feel "safe", in case he assumed "any leadership capacity in the future".

Bollywood actor Sunny Deol today became the latest member of his family to be elected to the parliament on a BJP ticket. His father Dharmendra and step-mother Hema Malini -- both actors -- have been BJP members elected to the Lok Sabha.

As soon as the counting for Lok Sabha polls began on Thursday morning, the Election Commission website designed to give out latest trends and results crashed.

Union Minister and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma on Thursday described the Lok Sabha results as a signal towards "end of dynasty politics and politics of casteism".

Prashant Kishor, political strategist par excellence and a veteran of many elections by now, sat out this election but indicated a role in Jaganmohan Reddy's sweep in Andhra Pradesh, where the incumbent Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's party has been voted out of power.

BJP chief Amit Shah, at the moment of the partys most dazzling victory, hit out at and mocked the opposition parties the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee. The BJP is set to win 300-plus seats in the just-concluded elections, keeping the Congress close to the 44 seats it won five years ago. Together with allies, the BJP tally will touch

Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit Thursday conceded her party's defeat in Lok Sabha polls in the national capital, terming the loss "very disappointing", and congratulated the BJP for its spectacular performance.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who trails the BJP's Gautam Gambhir by over 4.8 lakh votes in an unequal three-cornered race for the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, today congratulatedher rival in a tweet and indicated that she was open to puttingaside the bitter exchange of words that marked the closing stages of their election campaigns.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today thanked the people of Varanasi as he retained the seat by a margin of over 4.79 lakh votes. In a tweet, he said, the people of Kashi are "remarkable".

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday claimed that cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu's remarks on Pakistan and the ongoing investigation into the Guru Granth Sahib desecration may have affected the party's performance in urban areas of the state, especially Bathinda. He said he will raise the issue with the Congress high command soon.

Praveen Nishad, the giant killer who dealt a massive defeat to the BJP in its stronghold Gorakhpur last year, is now a BJP lawmaker.

The BJP had called parliamentary board meeting after trends showed it storming back to power with an absolute majority on its own.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the people over the BJP's landslide win today, and said it was a victory of "democracy". The BJP has won a hugely decisive victory today, crossing the 300-seat mark as the single largest party. Overall, the NDA has won or is leading in nearly 350 seats - the counting is still on.

After a decisive win for the BJP in the national elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, along with a number of senior party leaders, were at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. PM Modi spoke about the National Democratic Alliance's thumping victory.