UPDATE 3 - Setbacks to ruling BJP as India awaits final poll results

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS AS VOTE COUNT CONTINUES, CHANGES HEADER, DECK, INTRO

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - As the results of the general elections keep pouring out, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing setbacks as it appears losing several seats in the northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Uttar Pradesh, a Hindu heartland, is considered a stronghold for the BJP, which leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

According to the Indian Election Commission as of 2.30 pm (0900GMT), the BJP was leading in 240 seats, while the Indian National Congress was leading in 98 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.

In the western Maharashtra state, the opposition INDIA alliance is ahead in 28 out of 48 parliamentary seats.

The trends, however, show that NDA is crossing the 272-seat mark to form the government.

The biggest surprise for the ruling BJP, however, came from Uttar Pradesh, where it was losing several seats to the opposition alliance.

The Uttar Pradesh state sends the highest number of seats to the Indian parliament and in 2019, the ruling party won over 60 seats out of a total of 80 seats from the state.

In Tuesday's results, the BJP was ahead in only 33 seats.

The ruling party was also trailing in the Faizabad seat -- the electoral constituency where a grand Ram temple was built at the site of the now-demolished 16th-century Babri Mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the temple earlier this year.

Earlier, on Tuesday morning, the early vote count had shown a lead for the NDA.

The vote counting in India's general elections began Tuesday morning after the seven-phase mega polls concluded with millions casting their votes across the South Asian country.

The immense seven-phase endeavor to fill 543 parliamentary seats concluded on Saturday, with the opposition alliance claiming it would win 295 seats, while the ruling alliance said it would exceed 370 seats in Tuesday's result.

The election is primarily a battle between the NDA led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition alliance INDIA led by the main opposition Indian National Congress (INC).

The exit polls, released after the last phase of voting, had projected over 350 seats for the NDA and less than 200 for INDIA.

​​​​​​​The seven phases of the election were held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. In the final phase, at least 33 polling personnel died due to a heat wave in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Out of 968 million registered voters, 642 million cast ballots throughout the election, the commission said Monday, adding that the vote-counting process was "very robust."

In the capital New Delhi, the BJP and INC have both made preparations at their respective headquarters for the vote-counting day.

"I think the exit polls have shown exaggerated results. Looking at the ground situation, there is likely to be an almost equal distribution of seats between the ruling party alliance and opposition parties," Sarvesh Dutt Tripathi, who teaches media at a Delhi-based university, told Anadolu.