Election trends show moral defeat for Narendra Modi, expose exit polls as a "total sham": Congress general secretary

With latest trends showing the BJP falling below the majority mark, the Congress on Tuesday said it has become clear that it will be a staggering political and decisively moral defeat for Narendra Modi. Counting of votes are underway for the Lok Sabha elections, with BJP emerging as the single largest party but not getting a majority.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said the exit polls have been completely exposed for what they were -- "a total sham."

"Trends for all 543 seats are now available. The following have become clear: It will be a staggering political and decisively moral defeat for Mr. Narendra Modi," Ramesh said.

He said it has also become clear that "the exit polls that he orchestrated have been completely exposed for what they were--a total sham."

Early trends from counting of votes on Tuesday threw up disappointing results for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, which appears to be losing heavily in its strongholds of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan although it is expected to form the government with about 290 seats.

On its own, the BJP appeared to be falling below the majority mark with leads in 240 seats despite significant gains in Odisha, Telangana and Kerala, giving some solace to the party after the unexpected losses in the Hindi belt.