Zee Media Bureau/Ajith Vijay Kumar and Himanshu Kapoor
NDA which comprises BJP and 24 smaller parties is projected to bag 282 seats on its own after Rajiv Gandhi`s massive 400 plus victory in 1984. The half way mark is 272 in the 543-member House.
11:20 pm: At one point the United States denied Narendra Modi a visa citing his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. But after Modi led the BJP to a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls, the White House on Friday night said that the PM designate is welcome to visit the country.
Also Read: Election Results 2014: Narendra Modi is `welcome` in United States, says White House
8:50 pm: After Vadodara, Narendra Modi now addresses rally in Ahmedabad and says that the BJP proved that it can get majority. I want to thank people across the country for my victory. For their blessings to BJP, Modi says.
This has been an achievement for me because it shows that whether I am here or not, the city will keep moving ahead, says Narendra Modi.
Now, he rakes up `balloon` jibe, says only development can take the country forward. Without development, India`s destiny won`t change, he says.
In his second fiery speech post the landslide win, Modi thrusts on development, says it is the only answer, adding that the 125 crore people of India will take the country forward.
"Gujarat is the state that taught me how to walk, Gujarat is the state that deserves the credit for the work I will do. I might be anywhere, but the 6 crore Gujaratis will still have their right over me. Give a shout and I`ll be here," Modi tells the crowd and cheers grow louder.
6:10 pm: Narendra Modi, after BJP`s landslide win in the Lok Sabha polls, addresses victory rally in Vadodara, from where he contested the election.
Modi thanks people of Vadodara saying that the constituency has created a new record in the history of General Elections in India - a victory margin of 5.7 lakhs. "In the history of elections such a margin was not seen in a General Election. I thank people of nation for this," Modi says.
Saluting people of Vadodara, Modi says that the voter awareness campaign run by citizens of Vadodara is unprecedented. "This is first time after independence that any party apart from Congress has got a clear majority," he pointed.
Government belongs to common man not to just few people, Modi says as he presents a vision for India. As the cheers grow louder, Modi says every atom of his body, every second of my day is dedicated to 125 crore Indians, says Narendra Modi.
Presenting vision for India, Modi says that dreams of the people of India will be fulfilled. Giving the credit for victory to the people, Modi says India won`t get a worker like him. "I am mazdoor no.1," he says.
Narendra Modi concludes his victory speech in Vadodara with his signature Vande Mataram chant.
5:30 pm: Key Candidates:
Leading: Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajnath Singh, PA Sangma, Hema Malini, Ashok Chavan, Hukum Singh, Supriya Sule, Rameswar Teli, Kalyan Banerjee, SS Ahluwalia, Kirit Somaiya, Ramakant Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Shrikant Shinde, Anbumani Ramadoss, Badruddin Ajmal, Dr Daljit Singh, V Narayanasamy, Eknath Shinde, Bappi Lahiri, Ram Tahal Choudhary, Ashok Nete, Sunil Soren, Chatap Wamanrao Sadashiv, Bahadur Singh Koli, Bishnu Pada Ray, Giriraj Singh, Imran Masood, Udit Raj, Hari Om Pandey, Dinesh Kashyap, Abhishek Singh, Jaya Prada, Neiphiu Rio, CL Ruala, Ramesh Bidhuri, Kalraj Mishra, Anurag Thakur, Shibu Soren
Trailing: Meenakshi Natarajan, Sharad Yadav, Veerappa Moily, Anjali Damania, Tushar Chaudhary, Bhaichung Bhutia, Dayanidhi Maran, Praful Patel, Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik, Medha Patkar, Karia Munda, HS Phoolka, Vaiko, Shahnawaz Hussain, Ramya, Mohammad Azharuddin,Subodh Kant Sahay, Nilesh Narayan Rane, Jaipal Reddy, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Smriti Irani, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Gurudas Kamat, Prabhunath Singh, Rakhi Birla, Krishna Tirath, MM Pallam Raju, Karti Chidambaram, Dimple Yadav
5:20 pm: After leading the BJP to the magic number of 272, Narendra Modi is due to address a rally in Vadodara, from where he contested the Lok Sabha polls.
4:40 pm: Narendra Modi`s close aide Amit Shah, while talking to reporters, said that it is a clear mandate by the people in favour of the BJP. Since the announcement of BJP`s PM candidate, the party hoping for this unprecedented result, he added.
The Modi wave has become a tsunami. In 7 states Congress did not win even 1 seat, Shah said.
4:30 pm: Rahul Gandhi, while congratulating the new government, said that he holds himself responsible for Congress` defeat.
Wishing the new government all the best, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that winning and losing all a part in a democracy, respect people`s verdict with all humility while also taking responsibility for the loss.
4:05 pm: Narendra Modi has arrived at the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar. Welcomed by a sea of jubilant party workers, Modi flashes the victory sign.
3:20 pm: Holding a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi, party president Rajnath Singh said our agenda for these elections this election was development, good governance, adding that the country has shown its faith in the BJP and its agenda.
I remember a few lines which Atalji had once said, "Andhera chhatega, sooraj niklega aur kamal khilega," Rajnath said. Rajnath said that it`s a beginning of a new era. It`s due to Modi`s dynamic leadership that we have got this mandate.
There is a lotus blooming in all geographic regions of the country now, said Rajnath Singh. Our success is based on a positive agenda and Narendra Modi`s leadership, he told reporters.
After BJP`s huge victory, Rajnath said that the time has come to rewrite the `India Story`.
2:40 pm BJP president Rajnath Singh thanked party workers for hard to ensure the huge win and asked them to accept the victory with humility. "Never before in the history of the country has Congress been defeated by such a margin," Singh said. He urged the party supporters not to use offensive sloganeering and foul language.
2:37 pm
Heartfelt Thanks to the people of Rajasthan for standing by our side and helping us achieve #Mission25. Our good days are here!
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) May 16, 2014
2:30 pm Sonia Gandhi wins from Rae Bareli.
2:10 pm Narendra Modi has delivered a stunner. With the NDA set to win over 327 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the Gujarat strongman has got the mandate he asked the nation for. The BJP itself is expected to win over 272 seats, leaving no scope for any error in delivering the change the teeming millions of the country are looking for.
1:05 pm: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to tender resignation on Saturday at 12:30 pm after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee. Meanwhile, the PM phoned Modi and congratulated him on BJP`s victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh calls Shri Narendra Modi and congratulated him on his party's victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
— Dr Manmohan Singh (@PMOIndia) May 16, 2014
12:30 pm: According to a report, Modi will take oath on May 21. The BJP`s PM candidate will address a press conference in Ahmedabad at 2:30 pm.
12:10 pm Narendra Modi meets her mother. Touches her feet and gets her blessings.
12:09 pm Narendra Modi tweets: India has won, good days are coming!
India has won! ???? ?? ????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ????
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 16, 2014
12:01 pm The BJP-led NDA is seen going far ahead of the 300 seats mark. The latest trends for 540/543 seats indicate that BJP+ is leading in 323 seats, Congress+ in around 73 seats, JD(U) 4, AIADMK (37), Samajwadi Party 1, Bahujan Samaj Party just 1 seat, Left 10, AAP 3 and Others 50 seats.
11:35 am: Narendra Modi wins from Varanasi, defeats Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress` candidate Ajay Rai. Modi has also won from Vadodara constituency by a margin of over 4 lakh votes.
Also See: General Elections 2014: Modi seeks blessings from mother
11:20 am: After 30 years of coalition governments at the Centre, Narendra Modi has powered the BJP to an historic win as the party is set to win over 272 seats on its own, with the NDA on course to bag over 310 seats. The Narendra Modi wave has really turned out to be a Tsunami that has swept away almost all others.
11:18 am We accept people`s verdict, time for us to reflect, says Congress`s Satyavrat Chaturvedi.
11:00 am: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says he will resign, taking full responsibility for Congress`s defeat in the state.
10:15 am: Narendra Modi-led BJP and its allies are set to sweep Lok Sabha polls 2014. BJP+ is ahead in 306 seats out of the 512 for which trends are available. The Congress is staring at its worst performance ever with the party ahead in less than 70 seats. Of the regional parties, Mamata`s Trinamool Congress is leading in 30 of the total 42 seats in Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are ahead in only 14 and 8 seats respectively.
9:50 am Narendra Modi wins from Vadodara. Latest trends/results (486/543): BJP+ 293 seats, Congress+ 74 seats, AIADMK 18, BSP 9, SP 13, Left 13, JDU 1, AAP 1, Others 41.
9:40 am First result – RLD leader Ajit Singh has lost against former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh of the BJP.
The stock markets have also joined the party with the Sensex crossing 25,000 mark. Rahul Gandhi slips to number 3 in Amethi; Smriti Irani is leading, followed by Kumar Vishwas of AAP.
9:05 am: Big trends now available (393/543) - BJP+ ahead in 205 seats, Congress+ 96 seats, AIADMK 13, BSP 7, SP 9, Left 16, JDU 1, AAP 1, Others 30.
8:45 am Latest trends (235/543) - BJP+ ahead in 147 seats, Congress+ 60 seats, BSP 2, AIADMK 5, BSP 4, SP 6 Others 11.
Narendra Modi is ahead from Varanasi and Vadodara. Sonia Gandhi is ahead in Rae Bareli. Former army chief VK Singh, Hema Malini and Uma Bharti are leading in Ghaizabad, Mathura and Jhansi respectively. Congress` Shashi Tharoor is trailing from Thiru
8:16 am Latest trends available for 42 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats – BJP+ ahead in 28 seats, Congress+ 8 seats, BSP 1, AIADMK 2, Others 3
8:05 am First trends: BJP+ ahead in 3 seats , Congress+ in 1 seat.
8:00 am: Counting of votes have begun at 989 centres spread across 28 states and seven union territories. Nearly 8,000 candidates in the fray for the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.
7:25 am: Congress confident that exit polls would go wrong. “We are sure that the exit polls will be proved wrong again,” said Meem Afzal, party spokesperson.
7 am `Man of the moment` Narendra Modi will watch the results from his residence in Gandhinagar. If the results turnout to be on expected lines, he will first go to party office in Ahmedabad and then proceed to Vadodara for victory celebrations.
`PM` Modi will come to Delhi tomorrow and also visit Varanasai the same day.
6:50 am Battleground Varanasi: While the BJP seems to be only interested in the victory margin of Narendra Modi from Kashi, his opponents in the electoral war remain confident of upsetting the calculation. Congress`Ajay Rai said that Varanasi will reject `outsider` Modi. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Arvind Kejriwal will also reach the city by 11 am, reports said.
6:40 am The first trends on the way India has voted will emerge by 8:15 am, a definitive indication will emerge by 9:30 am. The nation is waiting with anticipation to know the fate of Narendra Modi as Elections 2014 has been about his attempt to reclaim Delhi for the BJP.
6:30 am While counting of votes will begin only at 8 am, upbeat BJP workers have started to celebrate in anticipation of a victory in Lok Sabha polls 2014. Party cadre in Kanpur from where Murli Manohar Joshi is in the fray have started the day by bursting crackers.
Massive preparations have also been made at the party headquarters in Delhi. Sweets and firecracks have been ordered in huge quantities to add punch to the celebrations.
Also Read: Lok Sabha polls: Why No 16 is important?
In less than two hours from now the EVM machines will start to reveal how India voted in Lok Sabha polls 2014. While the odds are heavily stocked in favour of Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the larger NDA, as exit polls have gone wrong in the past, there hangs a sense of uncertainty, though muted, about how the final tally will sit.
Elections 2014 witnessed the highest ever voting percentage with 66 percent (551 million) of the 814 million electorate having voted between April 7 and May 12 to pick 543 Lok Sabha members from the nearly 8,000 candidates in the fray in 28 states and seven union territories.
Rs 3,426 crores were spent on the largest-ever electoral exercise in the world conducted by the Election Commission.
Also Read: Kiran Bedi hails `PM` Narendra Modi, says it seems Indian democracy groomed him
Though trends for individual seats will be available within minutes, a larger trend will become visible within couple of hours. The websites of the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer’s office will be updated at the end of every round. The final results are expected to emerge by late afternoon.
