India election: Counting begins as Modi seen winning his third term

NEW DELHI — Indian election commission officials on Tuesday began counting ballots cast over the six-week general election that closed on June 1.

Exit polls conducted by local media on Saturday showed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, led by 73-year-old Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and its alliance winning a comfortable majority to secure its third five-year consecutive term.

Modi is likely to continue the policies focusing on economic reforms and infrastructure development domestically, and expected to prioritize multi-alignment as he seeks to establish Indian leadership on the global stage.

Here’s how the election unfolded (India time):

8:00 a.m. The Election Commission of India started counting at hundreds of voting stations in each of 36 states and federally governed territories. Most of India’s eligible voters cast their ballots using electronic voting machines (EVMs) that allowed them to press a button against the name of a candidate and his party symbol. At counting centers, officials press a “result” button to see the total votes for each candidate.

The Election Commission said on Monday that 642 million of the 968 million registered voters cast their ballots in the general election. This number is higher than the voters in 2019, but the turnout this time was about one percentage point lower than the 67.4% recorded five years ago.

Trends should emerge by noon, and who is forming the next government should become clearer in the afternoon.

Updates to follow.