The BJP on Tuesday inched closer to realising its dream of getting an elected MP from Kerala, with actor-politician Suresh Gopi ensuring a virtually unassailable lead of over 74,000 votes in the Thrissur parliamentary segment.

Gopi's win would put an end to the over seven decades-long political drought in Kerala for the BJP.

BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday conceded defeat to Congress' Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, but said that the election result in Kerala indicates that people are increasingly supporting the saffron party.

Chandrasekhar, who is the Union Minister of State for Information Technology in the outgoing cabinet, told PTI that it was "disappointing" that he lost, even though the BJP fought a very strong battle in the state.

"We have come very close and have set a record margin and vote share. It shows that people of Kerala are increasingly supporting the BJP. It is disappointing that I couldn't win today, but fought a clean campaign. We didn't use divisiveness like our opposition. Growth of BJP in Kerala is completely expected and will continue," he said.

(PTI Inputs)

Kerala- INDIA 18, NDA 1, Left 1

Karnataka- NDA 18, Cong 10

Tamil Nadu- INDIA 39, NDA 1

Andhra Pradesh- NDA 21, YSRC 4

Telangana- BJP 8, Cong 8, AIMIM 1

Puducherry- Cong 1

After trailing by over 20,000 votes behind BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, Congress' Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday regained the lead with a margin of over 15,000 votes.

During the initial hours of counting, the fight between Chandrasekhar and Tharoor was neck-and-neck with each taking a lead of a few thousand votes.

Commenting on the neck-to-neck fight with Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Tharoor said, "It was a very tight fight till the very end. I must congratulate both Rajeev Chandrashekar and Pannian Ravindran on having fought such a good battle and having improved their parties' performance so strongly here. I am glad that in the end, the voters of Thiruvananthapuram once again decided to repose their faith in me which they have done in three previous elections and I will obviously look forward to fulfilling their trust and working very hard for this constituency."

Celebrations broke out at Telugu Desam Party offices across Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday as the party, along with its pre-poll partners Janasena and BJP, is heading towards obtaining a bumper majority to form the government.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is ahead in 15 Lok Sabha seats, its NDA partners-BJP in three and Janasena in two segments out of the total 25, as per the early trends put out by the Election Commission on Tuesday.

(Via PTI)

Kerala- INDIA 18, NDA 1, Left 1

Karnataka- NDA 18, Cong 10

Tamil Nadu- INDIA 38, NDA 1

Andhra Pradesh- NDA 21, YSRC 4

Telangana- BJP 8, Cong 8, AIMIM 1

Puducherry- Cong 1

Out of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu, the DMK and its allies appear all set to win 37 segments and AIADMK and BJP's ally PMK may get one seat each, according to updates on trends by the Election Commission.

While DMK is ahead in 21 segments, Congress is in first spot in eight constituencies. VCK, CPI and CPI(M) are leading in two seats each and MDMK and IUML, the other two allies of the ruling party ahead in one seat each. In all, DMK and allies, round after round, are consistent in adding more votes to their kitty and in total are very likely to be victorious in 37 out of 39 seats.

However, in a first, BJP also crossed the 10 per cent vote share-mark in Tamil Nadu and has so far registered a share of 10.21 per cent, though it could not emerge in lead positions anywhere.

(Via PTI)

The Bharatiya Janta Party and Congress are tied in the state of Telangana. Both parties have leads in eight seats, while the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen party has a single lead.

• BJP- Leads in 236

• INC-Leads in 98

• SP- Leads in 37

• AITC- Leads in 32

• DMK- Leads in 21

• TDP- Leads in 16

• JD(U)- Leads in 14

• Shiv Sena (UBT)- 11

• NCPSP- Leads in 6

• Lok Janshakti Party (LJPRV)- Leads in 5

• Shiv Sena SHS- Leads in 5

• YSRCP- Leads in 4

• CPI(M)- Leads in 4

• RJD- Leads in 3

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and congratulated him.

As per official ECI trends, TDP is leading on 16 seats. Counting is underway.

As the neck-to-neck contest continues in Thiruvananthapuram, Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor leads from the seat with a margin of 3,947 votes Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister and BJP candidate trailing.

• Kerala- INDIA 16, NDA 2, Left 2

• Karnataka-NDA 18, Con 10

• Tamil Nadu- INDIA 37, NDA 1, AIADMK+ 1

• Andhra Pradesh- NDA 21, YSRC 4

• Telangana- BJP 8. Cong 8, AIMIM 1

• Puducherry- Cong 1

The ruling Congress and BJP appeared to be sharing the honours in Telangana as they were leading in eight seats each out of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state at noon on Tuesday, with BRS ceding ground.

The BJP candidates were leading in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, Chevella and Mahabubnagar LS seats.

The Congress nominees were leading in Peddapalle (SC), Mahabubabad (ST), Warangal (SC), Bhongir, Khammam, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool (SC) and Zaheerabad.

However, according to the latest trends from the counting of votes polled for the May 13 Lok Sabha polls, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi maintained his lead against his nearest BJP rival K Madhavi Latha by over 70,000 votes.

(Via PTI)

• BJP- Leads in 241 seats

• INC- Leads in 94 seats

• SP- Leads in 36 seats

• AITC- Leads in 31 seats

• DMK- Leads in 21 seats

• TDP- Leads in 16 seats

• JD(U)- Leads in 15 seats

• Shiv Sena (UBT)- Leading in 9 seats

• Shiv Sena (SHS)- Leading in 7 seats

• NCPSP- Leading in 7 seats

• Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)- Leads in 5 seats

• YSRCP- Leads in 4 seats

• CPI(M)- Leads in 4 seats

• RJD- Leads in 3 seats

• Kerala- INDIA 16, Left 2, NDA 2

• Karnataka- NDA 18, Cong 10

• Tamil Nadu- INDIA 37, NDA 1, AIADMK + 1

• Andhra Pradesh- NDA 21, YSRC 4

• Telangana- BJP 8, Cong 8, AIMIM 1

• Puducherry- Cong 1

Rape accused Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna is trailing in Hassan. Earlier, Revanna took a lead during the early trends.

BJP's Tamilisai Soundararajan trailing in South Chennai, DMK's Thamizhachi ahead by 15,259 votes.

• Basavaraj Bommai (BJP) - Leading by 32,270 votes

• Pralhad Joshi (BJP)- Leading by 86,830 votes

• Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP)- Leading by 15,616 votes

• Rahul Gandhi (Congress)- Leading by 2,10,472 votes

• Tejasvi Surya (BJP)- Leading by 2,10, 262 votes

• Kerala- INDIA 17, Left 2

• Karnataka- NDA 21, Cong 7

• Tamil Nadu- INDIA 36, NDA 2, AIADMK+ 1

• Andhra Pradesh- NDA 21, YSRCP 4

• Telangana- BJP 8, Cong 8, AIMIM 1

• Puducherry- Cong 1

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya leads by a margin of 1,47,663 in Bengaluru South.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is leading by a significant margin of 1,24,739 votes in Kerala's Wayanad.

Over the past two months, Outlook reporters diligently covered elections across India.

The BJP is making significant strides in the south, particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, emerging as key states. However, it trails behind in the north according to early trends.

In a neck-to-neck contest, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is once again ahead in the race. Currently he is leading by a margin of 5,062 votes in Shashi Tharoor's bastion Thiruvananthapuram.

• BJP lead- 229, Win- 1 (Uncontested)

• INC lead- 98

• SP lead- 34

• AITC lead- 23

• DMK lead- 17

• TDP lead- 15

• JD(U) lead- 14

• Shiv Sena (UBT) lead- 10

• NCP (SCP) lead- 9

• Shiv Sena - SHS- 7

• YSRCP- 5

• Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leads- 5

• RJD leads- 5

• CPI(M) leads- 5

• Kerala: INDIA 17, Left 2

• Karnataka: NDA 16, Congress 12

• Tamil Nadu: INDIA 34, AIADMK+ 5

• Andhra Pradesh: NDA 21, YSRC 4

• Telangana: BJP 9, Cong 6, BRS 1, AIMIM 1

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor leads in his bastion Thiruvananthapuram. Initially, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar was leading in Tharoor bastion. Accordinthe g to latest figures given by the Election Commission, Tharoor was leading by over 2,000 votes.

Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: Overall party-wise trends/results at 9:30 AM.

• BJP- Leads in 169 seats

• Congress- Leads in 65 seats

• SP- Leads in 33 seats

• TDP-Leads in 13 seats

• Shiv Sena-Leads in 7 seats

• Others- Lead in 52 seats

Rape accused Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna is leading in Hassan.

• Kerala- INDIA 13, Left 6

• Karnataka- NDA 20, Cong 8

• Tamil Nadu- INDIA 35, AIADMK+ 3

• Andhra Pradesh- NDA 17, YSRC 3

• Telangana- BJP 8, Cong 6, AIMIM 1

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is leading in Kerala's Wayanad.

• BJP leads in 91

• INC leads in 33

• SP leads in 15

• TDP leads in 6

• Janata Dal United leads in- 2

• Janata Dal Secular leads in 2

• YSRCP leads in 1

• HAMS leads in 1

• CPI(M) leads in 1

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is leading in Kerala Thiruvananthapuram, the bastion of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor . This is the only seat where BJP is leading in Kerala.

The BJP was ahead in 11 seats, Congress in four and JD(S) in two as the counting of postal ballots was taken up first in 28 Lok Sabha segments in Karnataka.

JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi (BJP) were ahead in the Mandya and Dharwad Lok Sabha segments, respectively, official sources said.

• Kerala: INDIA 11, Left 8

• Karnataka: NDA 18, INDIA 3

• Tamil Nadu: INDIA 16, AIADMK+ 1

• Telangana: BJP 2, AIMIM 1

• Adhra Pradesh: NDA 3, YSRC 1

• Puducherry: Cong 1

Speaking to PTI, Manoj Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka said, "We have 28 Parlimentary Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka and counting of votes at the 29 counting centres in the state will begin at 8 am on Tuesday."

He further said that elaborate arrangements have been made and 13,173 counting staff, including counting supervisors, counting assistants and micro observers have been deployed.

"All necessary training for the staff has also been completed. At each counting centre, EVMs and postal ballots will be counted in separate rooms. Media centres have also been set up at each of these counting centres with required facilities (with computers, xerox, fax, printers) so that they can report to their respective media outlets," he added.

Early trends showing NDA leading in 8 seats in Karnataka.

Vote couting begins across all 543 Lok Sabha seats. Postal ballots will be counted in first half an hour.

With less than an hour left before the counting begins, a strong room is being opened in the Bengaluru district. The counting of votes will begin at 8 am.

In a bid to maintain law and order on the vote counting and results day, the district administration on Monday imposed prohibitory orders around the designated vote counting centre for the Kozhikode and Vadakara Lok Sabha constituencies in North Kerala.

These measures, effective from Monday on the premises of JTD Group of Institutions at Vellimadukunnu, were instituted ahead of the counting of the ballots for the crucial Lok Sabha election scheduled for Tuesday.

Counting of votes for both constituencies will commence at 8.00 am, according to official sources.

(PTI Inputs)

Across 29 counting centers in Karnataka, over 13,000 staff have been deployed for the counting of votes on Tuesday for the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, officials said on Monday. Each Parliamentary Lok Sabha constituency has one counting centre each. However, in Tumakuru, counting of votes will be done in two places, so the total number of counting centres is 29.

The state has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in the 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26 and the second phase in the other 14 segments in the northern districts was held on May 7.

(via PTI)

The list of key candidates includes the following:

·       Bandi Sanjay Kumar (BJP)- Karimnagar

·       Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM)- Hyderabad

·       Madhavi Latha (BJP)- Hyderabad

·       G Kishan Reddy (BJP)- Secunderabad

·       Dharmapuri Arvind (BJP)- Nizamabad

·       Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy (INC)- Khammam

·       Ragidi Laxma Reddy (BRS)- Malkajgiri

·       K. Chandrasekhar Rao (BRS)

·       Hyderabad

·       Secunderabad

·       Nizamabad

·       Malkajgiri

·       Karimnagar

·       Chevella

·       Mahabubabad

Out of 28 constituencies, 14 constituencies that went for polls in phase two on 26 April when a   total of 247 candidates, which included 226 men and 21 women contested.  The constituency with most contestants was Chikballapur (29) and the least was Dakshina Kannada (9). 

The remaining 14 constituencies that went for polls on 7 May as part of phase three saw a total of 227 candidates contesting, which included 206 men and 21 women. Among these, the Davanagere constituency had the most candidates (30), and Raichur  the least (8).

The list of key candidates:

·       C. N. Manjunath (BJP)- Bangalore Rural

·       D. K. Suresh (Congress)- Bangalore Rural

·       Shobha Karandlaje (BJP)- Bangalore North

·       Rajeev Gowda (Congress)- Bangalore North

·       P. C. Mohan (BJP) - Bangalore Central

·       Mansoor Ali Khan (Congress)- Bangalore Central

·       Tejasvi Surya (BJP)- Bangalore South

·       Soumya Reddy (Congress) - Bangalore South

·       H.D. Kumaraswamy (JDS)- Mandya

·       Venkataramane Gowda (Congress)- Mandya

·       Yaduveer Wadiyar (BJP) - Mysore

·       M Lakshman (Congress)- Mysore

·       Basavaraj Bommai (BJP)- Haveri

·       Jagadish Shettar (BJP)- Belgaum/Belgavi

·       Pralhad Joshi (BJP)- Dharwad

·       Bhagwanth Khuba (BJP)- Bidar

·       Geetha Shivrajkumar (Congress)- Shimoga

·       Radhakrishna Doddamani( Congress)- Gulbarga

·       Bangalore Rural

·       Bangalore North

·       Bangalore South

·       Bangalore Central

·       Mandya

·       Mysore

·       Belgaum/Belagavi

·       Haveri

·       Dharwad

·       Gulbarga

·       Bidar

·       Shimoga

Andhra Pradesh voted for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls simultaneously on May 13. As many as 454 candidates were in the fray for the 25 parliamentary constituencies.

This time, Andhra Pradesh witnessed a triangular contest between YSRCP; the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the BJP, TDP and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP); and the Congress-led INDIA bloc.

The list of key candidates:

·       YS Avinash Reddy (YSRCP)- Kadapa

·       YS Sharmila Reddy (Congress)- Kadapa

·       Chadipiralla Bhupesh Reddy- Kadapa

·       V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP)- Nellore

·       Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (TDP)- Nellore

·       Koppula Raju (Congress)- Nellore

·       Mathkumilli Bharath (TDP)- Visakhapatnam

·       Dr Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi (YSRCP)- Visakhapatnam

·       Gumma Thanuja Rani (YSRCP)- Araku

·       Kothapalli Geetha (BJP)- Araku

·       N. Kiran Kumar Reddy (BJP)- Rajampet

·       PV Midhun Reddy (YSRCP)- Rajampet

Check updates on Andhra Assembly elections here.

·       Visakhapatnam

·       Kadapa

·       Rajampet

·       Araku

·       Nellore

Across all 39 Lok Sabha seats, several key candidates were in the fray in Tamil Nadu. This year Tamil Nadu witnessed a three-way race between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the AIADMK, and the INDIA bloc, which includes the DMK, Congress, and other parties.

The list of key candidates:

·       Kalanidhi Veeraswamy (DMK)- Chennai North

·       G. Selvam (DMK)- Kancheepuram

·       K Annamalai (BJP)- Coimbatore

·       A. C. Shanmugam (BJP)- Vellore

·       K. Gopinath (INC)- Krishnagiri

·       R. Asokan (AIADMK)- Dharmapuri

·       T. M. Selvaganapathi (DMK)- Salem

·       K. P. Ramalingam (BJP)- Namakkal

·       M. Thilagabama (PMK)- Dindigul

·       K. R. L. Thangavel (AIADMK)- Karur

·       P. Karuppaiah (AIADMK)- Tiruchirappalli

·       T. R. Paarivendhar (BJP)- Perambalur

·       V. Selvaraj (CPI)- Nagapattinam

·       Murasoli (DMK)- Thanjavur

·       Raama Sreenivasan- (BJP) Madurai

·       R. Sivasamy Velumani (AIADMK)- Thoothukkudi

·       Vijay Vasanth (INC)- Kanniyakumari

·       Thanga Tamil Selvan (DMK)- Theni

·       M. Jansi Rani (AIADMK)- Tirunelveli

·       K. Krishnasamy (AIADMK)- Tenkasi

·       Chennai North

·       Chennai South

·       Coimbatore

·       ?Thoothukudi

·       Madurai

·       Tirunelveli

·       Salem

Kerala- (1 Phase)
April 26- 71.27%

Tamil Nadu- (1 Phase)
April 19- 69.72%

Andhra Pradesh- (1 Phase)
May 13- 80.66%

Telangana- (1 Phase)
May 13- 65.67%

Karnataka (2 phases)
April 26- 69.56%
May 7- 71.84%

Over 2.77 crore voters exercised their franchise this year, including a notable portion of first-time voters exceeding five lakhs. Of the 194 candidates across 20 constituencies, 169 were men, and 25 were women.

The list of key candidates:

·       Rajmohan Unnithan (Congress) Kasaragod

·       C Raghunath (BJP) Kannur

·       Rahul Gandhi (Congress) Wayanad

·       VK Sreekandan (Congress) Palakkad

·       Suresh Gopi (BJP) Thrissur

·       KJ Shine (CPM) Ernakulam

·       Shashi Tharoor (INC) Thiruvanthapuram

·       Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP) Thiruvanthapuram

·       KC Venugopal (Congress) Alappuzha

·       Adoor Prakash (Congress)

·       Thiruvananthapuram

·       Ernakulam

·       Pathanamthitta

·       Thrissur

·       Kasaragod

Check all results related updates here

In the southern region, polling took place in 130 constituencies across the following states and union territory:

• Kerala (20)

• Karnataka (28)

• Tamil Nadu (39)

• Telangana (17)

• Andhra Pradesh (25)

• Puducherry (1).