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India Election: PM Modi commands strong lead in early count

By Darryl Coote
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters wearing masks depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrate the BJP's predicted win in parliamentary elections in Amritsar, India. Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA-EFE
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters wearing masks depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrate the BJP's predicted win in parliamentary elections in Amritsar, India. Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA-EFE

May 23 (UPI) -- As the counting of votes continued in the world's biggest election Thursday, an early tally showed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was soaring to a second term as his Bharatiya Janata Party was leading in 292 of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, according to India's Election Commission.

If trends continue, Modi, 68, would have bested his 2014 election win when his party won 282 seats.

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A total of 272 seats are required for a majority government in the Indian parliament called the Lok Sabha.

Trailing far behind in second was the main opposition Indian Congress Party, led by Rahul Gandhi of the political powerhouse Gandhi family, leading in 51 seats, which is a small increase from the 44 seats it won in the last election.

The 2019 Lok Sabha rolling elections ran through seven stages beginning on April 11 and ending May 19 with some 900 million eligible voters throughout the country.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister was quick to congratulate Modi on his "magnificent victory."

"We look forward to working closely with you," he said on Twitter.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also congratulated Modi on his win, referring to him as "my friend."

"The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the world's largest democracy," Netanyahu, who recently won his country's election by a narrow margin, said on Twitter. "Together, we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel."

Meanwhile, Pakistan announced as the votes were being tallied that it had successfully test-fired a Shaheen-II surface ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The two countries were at the brink of war earlier in the year following a terrorist attack in the disputed Kashmir region of India that resulted in some 40 Indian soldiers killed.

Modi blamed Pakistan for harboring the terrorist group, which inflamed tensions between the two countries resulting in several military skirmishes.

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