India Vote Latest: BJP Celebrates as Early Count Shows Leads

(Bloomberg) -- Early trends from India’s local elections showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party taking a lead in key states and possibly unseating the opposition in two of them.

The initial count from the Election Commission of India puts Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of its main rival, the Indian National Congress, in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The early trends could change as more votes are counted.

In total, five states held elections in November to choose lawmakers for their local assemblies. Four of the states will release results Sunday, while counting in Mizoram will be done on Monday.

Exit polls had showed the BJP winning Madhya Pradesh, the biggest of the five states, and Rajasthan. The Congress party was set to retain its control in Chhattisgarh and clinch Telangana, a southern state currently ruled by a regional party, according to the polls.

Latest Results From Election Commission (11:13 a.m.)

BJP Workers Celebrate in Rajasthan (10:48 a.m.)

BJP workers danced and celebrated in the streets outside their offices in the Rajasthan’s capital, Jaipur, as early trends showed Modi’s party may unseat the opposition in the state. Members were seen dancing and beating drums, according to footage posted by the local media ANI on social media site X.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Predicts BJP Win (10:45 a.m.)

“I have said this before that a comfortable majority will come to the BJP because the love of the people could be seen everywhere,” Shivraj Singh Chouhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said on TV. The BJP is leading the main opposition in the early vote count in the state, which is currently governed by the party.

Modi May Visit Party Headquarters in New Delhi (10:45 a.m.)

Modi is likely to visit the ruling party’s headquarters in New Delhi at 6 p.m. today, CNBC-TV18 reported. Early counting showed the BJP may retain power in Madhya Pradesh and unseat the opposition in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

BJP Leads in Two Key States (10:26 a.m.)

The BJP is leading in half of the constituency seats in Madhya Pradesh, the biggest of the four states, and is almost at the halfway mark in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, a party needs 116 seats to form a government.

The BJP is slightly ahead of the Congress in Chhattisgarh, while the opposition party is leading in Telangana.

--With assistance from Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Akriti Sharma and Devidutta Tripathy.

(Updates with latest details.)

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Author: Swati Gupta and Eltaf Najafizada