India awaits election outcome as huge vote count begins

Results out on June 4, with PM Modi widely expected to win historic third term

- Rohini Mohan

It has been over six weeks since the first votes were cast in India's gargantuan general election, and now the results of the democratic exercise will finally be made public on June 4.

More than 642 million people cast their ballot over seven phases held between April 19 and June 1 for 543 parliamentary constituencies spread across 28 states and eight union territories.

The voter turnout of 66.4 per cent in the 2024 polls is one percentage point lower than in the previous national parliamentary election held in 2019.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar called the feat "a world record" in a press conference on June 3, and asked journalists and officials to join him in giving Indian voters a standing ovation.

Now that the voting is over, a huge process of counting the votes cast will kick off at 8am local time on June 4. With all constituencies expected to start counting simultaneously, results are expected to become clear before dusk in India.

At the start, postal ballots will be counted. After half an hour, the electronic voting machines (EVMS) stored in a strongroom in each of the constituencies will be taken out and unsealed in the presence of representatives from all participating political parties.

Analysts and exit polls widely expect incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi to win a third term, despite his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's unpopularity in some regions due to rising prices and livelihood struggles.