UPDATE - Vote count begins as Indians await outcome of mammoth elections

UPDATES WITH START OF VOTE COUNTING; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - Vote counting in India's general elections began Tuesday morning after the seven-phase mega polls concluded last week with millions casting their votes across the South Asian country.

The vote count began at 8 a.m. local time (0230GMT), with the final official results expected by the end of the day, according to the Election Commission of India.

However, the general trend of the results is expected to start becoming clear a few hours after the beginning of the vote count.

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 National Democratic Alliance (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, 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 vote-counting day.

Even as exit polls have hinted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party returning in great numbers, some experts suggest these predictions may be "exaggerated."

"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.

Along with the results in the general elections, the vote count for legislative assembly elections in two Indian states will also be announced on Tuesday. The states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha went to the polls simultaneously along with the general elections.