Early counting in Indian elections show BJP-led NDA heading for majority

Supporter of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds up a map of their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi .- AP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appeared headed for a clear majority, leading in 287 of the 512 constituencies from where early trends were available as counting of votes progressed in India's Lok Sabha elections on Friday.

The ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was ahead in just 80 seats to mark its poorest electoral performance ever. The Congress was trailing in many seats it had won last time, losing them to the BJP.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP was ahead in 53 of 72 seats for which counting trends were available, leaving the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress far behind.

The BJP and its allies were ahead in 21 seats in Bihar, while the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD), an ally of the Congress, was leading in six and the ruling Janata Dal (United) in one.

In Seemandhra, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress were engaged in a close contest, while the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had taken an early lead in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

In Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was ahead in 31 seats.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP was leading in 25 and the Congress in three.

In Kerala, the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) was ahead in 12 and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in 7. The BJP was leading in one constituency.

In Gujarat, ruled by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the party appeared to be heading for a clean sweep.

At the party's headquarters in New Delhi, BJP supporters broke into celebrations with firecrackers and sweets as the early trends indicated that the party was heading for its best ever electoral performance at the national level.