India to kick off vote counting for the world’s biggest election, with exit polls projecting a Modi victory

• India will start counting votes for its 2024 general election at 08:00a.m. local time on Tuesday, with Narendra Modi projected to win a rare third consecutive term as prime minister.
• A whole host of exit polls released on Saturday showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was set to win an overwhelming majority.
• Exit polls sent markets soaring on Monday, with key stock benchmarks, the Nifty50 and the Sensex hitting record highs of 23,338.70 and 76,738.89, respectively.

India will start counting votes for its 2024 general election at 08:00a.m. local time on Tuesday, with Narendra Modi projected to win a rare third consecutive term as prime minister.

A whole host of exit polls released on Saturday showed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was set to win an overwhelming majority, with the NDTV poll of polls pegging the coalition's seats at 365 in the lower house of the parliament. Exit poll projections may not always be accurate.

The party or coalition that wins at least 272 seats out of 543 forms the government.

Markets reacted euphorically to exit polls predicting an emphatic victory for the BJP, with key stock benchmarks, the Nifty50 and the Sensex, gaining more than 3% and hitting record highs on Monday.

The Nifty 50 closed the day at 23,263.90 after reaching a record high of 23,338.70, while the Sensex closed at 76,468.78 after hitting 76,738.89 earlier Monday.

This was the world's largest democratic exercise with almost a billion registered voters. Voting, which started on April 19, was spread over seven phases and more than six weeks.

Under Modi's 10-year rule, India's economy has seen solid growth, with the latest GDP data showing the economy expanded by 8.2% in