By YP Rajesh, Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Shivam Patel

NEW DELHI, June 4 (Reuters) -

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP)-led alliance raced to a clear majority in the 543-member

lower house of parliament in early vote-counting trends on

Tuesday, TV channels showed.

The channels showed the ruling National Democratic

Alliance (NDA) was ahead in more than 300 seats, with BJP alone

ahead in 255. The opposition INDIA alliance led by Rahul

Gandhi's Congress party was ahead in 172 seats, with Congress

alone ahead in 71.

Based on the early trends, the Republic TV channel

called the vote in favour of Modi, the first to do so.

The first votes counted are postal ballots, which are paper

ballots, mostly cast by troops serving outside their home

constituencies or officials away from home on election duty.

This year, postal votes were also offered to voters over 85

years of age and people with disabilities to allow them to vote

from home.

Counting is expected to last several hours as the large

majority of votes polled in electronic voting machines or EVMs

are taken up after the first 30 minutes of counting postal

ballots.

"These are very early trends, we are going to see better

results as the day progresses," Congress spokesperson Pawan

Khera said.

TV exit polls broadcast after voting ended on June 1

projected a big win for Modi, but exit polls have often got

election outcomes wrong in India. Nearly one billion people were

registered to vote, of which 642 million turned out.

However, if Modi's victory is confirmed, his BJP will have

triumphed in a vitriolic campaign in which parties accused each

other of religious bias and of posing a threat to sections of

the population.

Investors have already cheered the prospects of another Modi

term, expecting it to deliver further years of strong economic

growth and pro-business reforms, while a possible two-thirds

majority in parliament could allow major changes to the

constitution, rivals and critics fear.

"The next government's main task will be to set India on the

path of getting rich before it ages," the Times of India

newspaper said in an editorial on Tuesday, referring to the

young, working age population in the world's most populous

nation. "The clock's ticking."

MARKETS CHEER

India stocks fell at the open after Monday's sharp surge as

traders said there was some nervousness on the margin of

victory.

The NIFTY 50 was down 2.2% at 0345 GMT and the

S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.8%.

TV exit polls released on Saturday after voting ended

projected the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance could win a

two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament.

Several major polls projected the BJP alone could win more

than the 303 it won in 2019.

The projections pushed Indian shares to lifetime highs on

Monday while the rupee gained and bond yields dropped.

Nearly one billion people were eligible to vote in the

seven-phase, seven-week poll which began on April 19 and held in

searing summer heat with temperatures touching nearly 50°

Celsius (122° Fahrenheit) in some parts.

More than 66% of registered voters turned out, just one

percentage point lower than the previous election in 2019,

squashing pre-poll concerns that voters might shun a contest

thought to be a foregone conclusion in Modi's favour.

Modi, 73, who first swept to power in 2014 by promising

growth and change, is seeking to be only the second prime

minister after India's independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to

win three straight terms.

He began his campaign by showcasing his record in office

including economic growth, welfare policies, national pride,

Hindu nationalism and his own personal commitment to fulfilling

promises which he called "Modi's Guarantee".

However, he changed tack after low voter turnout in the

first phase and accused the opposition, especially the Congress

party which leads an alliance of two dozen groups, of favouring

India's 200 million Muslims - a shift analysts said made the

campaign coarse and divisive.

They said the pivot may have been aimed at firing up the

Hindu nationalist base of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to

draw them to vote. Modi defended himself against criticism that

he was stoking divisions between Hindus and Muslims to win votes

and said that he was only faulting the opposition campaign.

The opposition INDIA alliance, led by Rahul Gandhi's

Congress party, denied it favoured Muslims in the Hindu-majority

country and said Modi would destroy the constitution if he

returned to power and end affirmative action enjoyed by the

so-called backward castes. The BJP rejects this.