PM Modi's alliance should win elections in India, according to exit polls

The alliance led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win a majority in the general elections that ended this Saturday (1), exit polls by the NDTV news channel showed.

The summary of two exit polls projected that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to win more than 350 seats in the 543-member lower house of Parliament, where 272 are needed for a simple majority.

The NDA won 353 seats in the 2019 elections.

For the opposition alliance “INDIA” led by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party, the projection was more than 120 seats.

Polls have a spotty record in India as they often return election results wrong, with analysts saying it is a challenge to get them right in a large and diverse country.

The opposition rejected the findings and, before their publication, called them “prefixed”.

Several other TV channels are expected to project their numbers based on exit polls this Saturday.

Nearly 1 billion people were able to vote in the seven-phase elections that began on April 19. The Electoral Commission will count the votes on June 4 and results are expected on the same day.

A victory for Modi, 73, would make him the second prime minister, after independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, to win three consecutive terms.

Modi began his re-election campaign by focusing on his achievements over the past 10 years, but quickly began targeting Congress in particular, accusing it of favoring India's Muslim minority, which the opposition party denies.

The opposition has campaigned largely on affirmative action programs and saving the Constitution from what they call Modi's dictatorial regime, an allegation the BJP denies.

Unemployment and inflation are the main concerns of voters in the Hindu-majority country of 1.4 billion people, according to polls.