Lok Sabha Election Results: Counting Of Votes From 8 AM | June 3 Highlights

As the counting of votes is set to begin in less than 24 hours with everyone in the country waiting to see whether the exit poll predictions will hold ground or just vanish away on the result day. It is to be seen whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government will come back to power with thumping majority or Opposition INDIA-bloc will prevail. The Opposition INDIA-bloc has trashed the exit polls which have given BJP a clear mandate.

Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini on Monday said, "PM Modi has worked honestly in the last 10 years. Under him, India's status in the world has increased. It is PM Modi's 'sankalp' to make India a developed nation, and he is the only person who can take the nation forward."

Congress leader and the party's candidate from Haryana's Rohtak Depender Singh Hooda on Monday said, "Not just Rohtak, but Congress and INDIA alliance are heading towards a victory in all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. I am confident that I will win with a huge margin in Rohtak."

On the eve of the counting of votes on June 4, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in an open letter to bureaucracy said, "adhere to Constitution, don't get intimidated."

Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Singh on Monday said, “‘Mahagathbandhan’ candidates will win the majority of seats (in Bihar). I believe that the Congress is going to win 6-7 seats for sure. The real exit will take place for this government (BJP-led NDA) tomorrow. It is going to be Home Minister Amit Shah’s exit, PM Modi’s exit and the entire Cabinet’s exit."

Ahead of counting of votes on June 4, BJP leader Satish Poonia on Monday said, "We are glad that PM Modi will form the government for the third consecutive time. The BJP will even do well in Southern and Northeastern states. I feel this will be the beginning of a new era for India."

In reaction to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's statement, Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya on Monday said,"They have accepted their defeat...The results have not been declared yet and Digvijaya Singh has started blaming the EVM. It means that they have accepted their defeat..."

Madhya Pradesh CM and B JP leader Mohan Yadav on Monday said,"We were saying this from the day when the elections began but the opposition was not ready to accept it. They didn't accept it in 2014 and 2019, and are not ready to accept it in 2024. They are trying to create an anarchy and no one in the world has ever questioned the election commission in the entire world."

The INDIA bloc leaders will hold a meeting in Delhi after Lok Sabha poll results are announced on June 4. The decision to convene a meeting to discuss and deliberate strategy after the poll results announcement was taken on June 1, news agency ANI reported.

The meeting of the top leaders of INDIA bloc will be held either on June 4 or June 5.

In his reaction on exit polls, former Bihar Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said, "This is Modiji's poll. INDIA alliance is winning in people's exit polls. At any cost, we are not getting less than 295 seats. We are going to form the government...In Modi's exit polls also, we've been given a 14% positive swing whereas BJP-NDA given 6-7% negative swing..."

BJP leader and the party's candidate from Sirsa, Ashok Tanwar on Monday said, “PM Modi will become the Prime Minister for the third time and the country will become the world's third largest economy. BJP is not worried and the people of Sirsa will surely give PM Modi their support."

Ahead of Lok Sabha election result day, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met PM Narendra Modi at the latter's residence in Delhi on Monday.

Ahead of Lok Sabha Election results, the demand for sweets especially 'ladoos' has increased in the country.

The news agency ANI quoting an owner of sweet shop from Agra said, "...We are getting the orders of laddu from the parties that are sure of their candidate's victory... We are preparing 11 different types of Laddus for the result day celebration."

During a presser in Delhi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Monday said, "The election process is in its last phase. The opposition used abusive words against the PM; we can accept it if you do that against the BJP and our government, but when you do that against the democracy, then it is not acceptable."

CPI General Secretary D Raja on Monday said, "Tomorrow we are hopeful... The leaders of INDIA bloc parties... we met, and we are very confident. We are hopeful that people's verdict will be in favour of INDIA bloc and INDIA bloc will form the government."

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday rejected Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's request to get a week's time to detail his allegation against Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah.

Ramesh had alleged that Shah called up 150 district magistrates across the country after voting for the Lok Sabha elections had ended.

In reaction to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s post on X, BJP leader Shazia Ilmi on Monday said, He (Jairam Ramesh) will have to give the proof of what he has written – that (Home Minister) Amit Shah has contacted 150 DMs (to manipulate results). He will have to tell when and how he got to know about it."

During a presser on Monday, AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Monday questioned exit polls. He said, "Congress is contesting on 9 seats in Tamil Nadu, and (exit polls) are making it win on 15 seats. In Uttarakhand, total number of seats is five and BJP is given six seats."

TMC leader Madan Mitra on Monday said, "All are paid news. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, BJP had purchased all the media companies in the country. Now, the news being telecast by media is given to them by Amit Shah, by the BJP media cell, by Amit Malviya. It is not true. Everybody will see that the truth is that TMC will come out victorious in West Bengal with 30 to 32 seats."

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Monday said, “The exit polls are not based on ground reality; therefore, I do not agree with them. In Karnataka particularly, we will win a minimum of 15 seats and up to 20 seats. I believe that the BJP has put pressure on the media for these exit polls. BJP cannot be believed; there is a possibility of BJP tampering the results."

Ahead of tomorrow's Lok Sabha Election 2024 results, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday said, “With the blessings of Lord Somnath, Narendra Modi will form the government once again."

In reaction to Maharashtra MLA Ravi Rana's claim that 'Uddhav Thackeray will join NDA within 20 days', Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey on Monday said, "There is an old saying - Mungeri Lal ke hassen sapne. These comments are like that. The results are not out yet. We don't know the winners. The way original Shiv Sena is emerging in state, they have got panicked. Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana have been speaking against our party since very beginning. We don't take their statement seriously. They don't have the stature like that as well. Results will come tomorrow. They should maintain dignity."

BJP leader CN Ashwath Narayan on Monday said, "Before the election could start, it was very clear that the 2024 General Elections would be pr-incumbency and pro-Modi... The exit poll numbers will be reflected in tomorrow's counting. We are expecting the actual numbers to be much higher... The opportunist alliance has been completely rejected... Congress always wants 'takatak' money. They have always wanted to loot the country's treasury..."

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaih on Monday concurred with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement terming exit polls as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's media poll, as he asserted that the party will win 15-20 Lok Sabha seats out of 28 in the state.

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday dubbed the exit polls as "Modi media poll".

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

They have also predicted the BJP-JD(S) alliance's sweep in Karnataka, and none of them gave the ruling Congress a double-digit figure.

- PTI

With just a day to go for counting of votes polled for the Lok Sabha election, the focus in the northwestern state of Punjab is on prominent faces such as the BJP's Preneet Kaur, SAD's Harsimrat Kaur Badal, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

The stakes were also high for other heavyweights like the BJP's Ravneet Singh Bittu and Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Monday said the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win around 450 Lok Sabha seats, more than the numbers predicted by the exit polls.

In a post on X, former Union minister Bharti also said that pilgrims from various states and seers whom she met in the last two-and-a-half months of her stay in the Himalayas only spoke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

During the press conference in Delhi today, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the poll body is impressed by the high voter count in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and said, "We will very soon start poll process."

While Congress-led Opposition seems to be doing better this elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance is set to return for a third straight term as most pollsters predicted close to or over 370 seats for the latter in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, majority mark in which is 272.

The NDA, however, seems to not be achieving its target of 400-plus seats, as per projections by most pollsters.

Chanakya exit poll agency and India Today-Axis My India exit poll on June 1 projected that the BJP might hit the 400 milestone, and restricted the INDIA bloc to over 100 seats.

The Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday held a press conference to speak about the achievement of India in 2024 through the Lok Sabha elections, he said, "We have created a world record of 642 million proud Indian voters. This is a historic moment for all of us. This is just to give you some small statistics. This is 1.5 times of the voters of all G7 countries - US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada.. all put together. We are comparing voters and not electors and it is 2.5 times of the voters of 27 counties in the EU. That has been the incredible power of the voters of India. There are 312 million proud women voters. This is also the highest ever in the world. It is larger than the 2019 elections.. both the total and the women voters. We must cherish this."

The Election Commission Panel at the presser also gave a standing ovation to each voter who participated in the election process.

BJP announces the names of candidates for the Maharashtra Legislative Council biennial elections to the Konkan Division Graduates', Mumbai Graduates' and Mumbai Teachers' constituencies.

Repolling was underway on Monday at one booth each in the Barasat and Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal.

The booth in the Barasat constituency is located at the Kadambagachi Saradar Para FP School in the Deganga assembly segment, while the one in Mathurapur is located at the Aaddir Mahal Srichaitanya Bidyapith in the Kakdwip assembly seat.

Till 11 am, booth no 61 in Deganga recorded a voter turnout of 31.62 per cent while booth no 26 in Kakdwip recorded 21.37 per cent voter turnout.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in an attempt to slam the ruling party, said, " BJP is responsible for many wrong things. They spoiled the harmony of the country..they made different castes and communities fight against each other...they made paper leaks happen...they made crimes against women rise...atrocities were unleashed against women wrestlers, backward classes and tribals..."

He also said, "The elections have got over. The exit polls are showing many things. Jitni unchai par jakar katti hai patang, utna hi bada hota hai uska patan. BJP is responsible for many things. They disturbed peace and brotherhood. They conspired to end reservation. They increased crime against women. They made a record of wrong behaviour. They triggered inflation, unemployment. Poor became poorer."

On vote counting arrangements, Telangana's Warangal constituency Returning Officer and District Collector P Pravinya told ANI, "For Warangal constituency, we have 7 Assembly segments and there are a total of 8 counting halls including postal ballot counting halls. Today we are having a dress rehearsal training for all the staff which includes counting supervisors, counting assistants, microobservers etc. Based on today's training, we will start the counting of votes tomorrow at 8 am."

She added, "A staff of 1200 has been deployed here which includes staff of actual counting and also staff who are there for tabulation and data entry. We have set up a 3-tier barricading system and there will be sufficient police deployed to ensure law and order in the area... The first round of counting for EVM might be completed by 9 am whereas postal ballots will take some more time given the preliminary rejections."

A JDU leader was shot dead by miscreants in Maua Village of Nalanda district in Bihar.

Nalanda DM Shashank Shubhankar told ANI, "We have come here to investigate the matter. After this, we will head out to the village to question people. The accused will soon be punished... The exact reason will be revealed only after an investigation... The deceased was a polling agent."

Union Minister and BJP candidate from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat Dharmendra Pradhan on poll results, said, "The results for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 have already been declared by the people on June 1. It has been decided that Narendra Modi will be the PM again."

Speaking about Lok Sabha poll results that will be declared tomorrow, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said, “We have to wait. Just wait and see. We are very hopeful that our results are completely the opposite to what the exit polls are saying."

Sachin Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Jammu said, " For the counting day, we have made three-tier security arrangements...counting staff have been given training. Agents of political parties have also been briefed...all preparations are done."

More than 2,000 personnel would be deployed for counting of votes for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram, a senior official said on Monday.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas said a three-tier security arrangement has been made in all the 13 counting centres across the state.

There would be three counting centres in state capital Aizawl and one each in the other district headquarters, he said.

Altogether, there would be 40 counting halls with 379 counting tables. Each table would be supervised and monitored by a counting supervisor, counting agent and micro observer, he said.

The counting of votes would begin at 8 am on Tuesday, and postal ballots would be counted first, followed by votes cast in the EVMs, Vyas said.

Chief Electoral Officer Of Delhi P Krishnamurthy informed that nearly 7,000 officials will be deployed in counting of votes for the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the city at seven centres on June 2.

The counting process will begin at 8am and have 'three-layer security' at the venues.

Repolling was underway on Monday at one booth each in the Barasat and Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, officials said. The repolling started at 7 am and would continue till 6 pm, they said.

The booth in the Barasat constituency is located at the Kadambagachi Saradar Para FP School in the Deganga assembly segment, while the one in Mathurapur is located at the Aaddir Mahal Srichaitanya Bidyapith in the Kakdwip assembly seat, they added.

The decision of repolling was taken on Sunday based on reports of the returning officers, the district election officers and observers concerned, officials said. Voting in the two constituencies was held on June 1.

Sensex opened at fresh record high while NIFTY topped 23,300 ahead of Lok Sabha election results, for which exit polls have predicted an NDA sweep.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Modi Media poll' jab at exit poll projections said, "The problem with the Congress party is that they do not believe in the Supreme Court, they do not believe in the Election Commission, the CAG, in the Parliament. Who do they believe in? They don't even believe in themselves, and this is why the people also don't believe in them. They do not even believe in the EVMs."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter addressed to the people of India said, "development trajectory of Bharat fills us with pride and glory".

"The biggest festival of democracy, the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, are concluding today in our nation, the Mother of Democracy. After a three-day spiritual journey in Kanniyakumari, I have just boarded the plane for Delhi. Through the day, Kashi and numerous other seats have been in the midst of voting. My mind is filled with so many experiences and emotions," he reportedly wrote.

To manage post-election violence, nearly 400 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies (over 40,000 personnel) will remain in West Bengal until June 19. A significant portion of the CAPFs will consist of the Central Reserve Police Force.

Voting is underway on Monday in the biennial elections to six seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council from teachers' and graduates' constituencies.

Seventy-eight contestants are in the fray. Counting of votes will be held on June 6.

In the 75-member Upper House, the Congress has 29 members.

The polls are being held for the constituencies of Karnataka North East Graduates, Karnataka South West Graduates, Bangalore Graduates, Karnataka South-East Teachers, Karnataka South-West Teachers and Karnataka South Teachers.

These seats fell vacant following the retirement of six members.

-PTI

Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinva announced that the counting of votes will take place in 81 centres across the state.

Rinwa reportedly said, "On 4 June, Lok Sabha election counting will take place and it will begin from 8 am. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, in 75 districts, there are 81 counting centres where the counting of votes will take place... Out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, the counting of votes for 35 seats will take place in one counting centre, the counting of votes for 37 seats will take place in 2 counting centres each, and the counting of seats of 8 Lok Sabha seats will be done in 3 centres each. Postal ballots will be counted at the headquarters of the returning officer of the parliamentary constituency."

Addressing a public meeting in Balod, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai says, "Many types of demands are coming from the society, currently there is a code of conduct, if the code of conduct was not implemented then I would have given you a lot. I assure you that as soon as the code of conduct is lifted, all the demands of your society will be fulfilled..."

The exit poll projections for the Odisha Assembly elections suggest a tight contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), giving them a equal of 62-80 seats.

Axis My India on Sunday projected vote share also stood at 42 per cent for both the parties. The question remains whether long-time Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik be able to make a comeback in the state.

The exit polls for the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections have been split. While several polls and surveys have projected a win for the NDA alliance in the state, many of stated that Reddy's YSR Congress will retain its power in Andhra Pradesh.

As per India Today-Axis My India, People's Pulse, TV5 Telegu and NDTV India-Jan Ki Baat, a majority for the NDA alliance in the state, led by TDP has been projected.

The BJP on Sunday returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in a row, winning 46 seats in the 60-member assembly, and bagging four more seats compared to its 2019 tally.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu asserted that the momentum of what happened in the ‘Land of the rising sun’, a sobriquet for Arunachal Pradesh, will spread to other parts of the country on June 4 when votes for the Lok Sabha elections will be counted.

Led by its president and Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) on Sunday returned to power in the Himalayan state for the second consecutive term by a landslide victory, winning 31 seats in the 32-member assembly.

Tamang, however, won from two seats, and his party bagged 58.38 per cent of the votes polled. The SKM had won 17 seats in the 2019 assembly polls.

Questioning the credibility of the exit polls, the leaders of major opposition parties alleged that they were conducted at the behest of the government as a "deliberate attempt to justify rigging of elections" and were part of PM Modi's "mind games" to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers ahead of counting of votes on June 4.

"This is not called an exit poll but its name is 'Modi media poll'. This is Modi ji's poll, it is his fantasy poll," former Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters at the AICC headquarters here.

Asked how many seats the INDIA bloc would get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard (popular singer) Sidhu Moosewala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."

The BJP hit back, saying Gandhi has been living in a "fantasy world" since childhood and is cut off from the ground reality.

Stay alert and put in place measures to check any attempts of rigging on vote counting day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi told the party's Lok Sabha poll candidates.

They asked Congress workers and leaders to not leave counting centres till all formalities are completed and shared an SOP with the candidates. They also called on Congress leaders to keep the morale high and stressed that the exit polls were aimed at demoralising the party cadre.

The Congress and its INDIA bloc allies are trying to undermine the integrity of India's electoral process, the BJP alleged on Sunday and urged the Election Commission to prevent any attempts of "violence and unrest" during the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on June 4.

A BJP delegation comprising Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal also urged the poll panel to take cognisance of the "systematic attempts" being made to undermine the electoral process and initiate stringent action against those responsible.

The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission (EC) in this regard.

"We had to call upon the Election Commission today in light of the repeated attempts by a section of political parties, like the Congress and their INDI alliance partners, and also by certain motivated civil society groups and NGOs who are trying their level best to undermine the integrity of India's electoral process," Goyal told reporters after meeting EC officials.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the exit poll predictions were not consistent with the ground reality as they were "manufactured at home" two months back.

Claiming that such exit polls have no value, she criticised the media for showing them.

Most of the exit polls have predicted that the BJP will get more seats than the TMC in the state.

"We had seen how the exit polls were conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2021. None of the predictions had turned out to be true," she told TV9-Bangla news channel.

"These exit polls were manufactured at home by some people two months back for the media consumption. They have no value," the TMC supremo added.

- PTI

The Election Commission on Sunday ordered repolling at one booth each in the Barasat and Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituencies.

The returning officers reported incidents of polling disruption and violence following which the EC made the decision of repolling, which will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on Monday.

The booth in the Barasat constituency is located at the Kadambagachi Saradar Para FP School in the Deganga assembly segment, while the one in Mathurapur is located at the Aaddir Mahal Srichaitanya Bidyapith in the Kakdwip assembly seat.

The counting of the seven phases of Lok Sabha Elections votes will be done on June 4 across the country. This will decide the fate of the incumbent government led by PM Narendra Modi. The exit polls have so far predicted a smooth sailing of the BJP to retain power for the third time at the Centre.

Congress alleged that their party agents won't be allowed at the Assistant Returning Officer's table during counting tomorrow but the Delhi CEO responded denying such claims.

Track our live coverage of the Lok Sabha Elections Results Here.