Narendra Modi will score an emphatic win for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with 336 seats, securing a second five-year term, after a gruelling and staggered election that lasted more than five weeks, according to a comprehensive News18-Ipsos exit poll on Sunday.

The News18-Ipsos exit poll showed NDA securing 336 seats beating the 82 seats by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of opposition parties. The tally of the Congress, which won 44 seats in 2014 — its worst-ever electoral performance — is projected to reach 46 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, will score 276.

The NDA is projected to win 287 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament followed by 128 for the Congress party-led opposition alliance, CVoter exit poll said. According to another poll released by Times Now television, Modi's alliance is likely to get 306 seats, a clear majority.

The News Nation has predicted 286 seats to the BJP-led NDA and 122 seats for the Congress-led UPA alliance. The others are expected to win 134 seats.

India Today-Axis has predicted a better performance for NDA than 2014 with 339-368 seats while it projected 77-108 seats for UPA.

News24-Today's Chanakya projected that the BJP would win around 291 seats while the Congress would get about 57. Times Now predicted that PM Modi's BJP would get 306 seats out of the total 542 while the Congress would win 142.

ABP-Nielsen predicted 267 seats for BJP and 127 for Congress while News X-Neta projected 242 seats for BJP and 164 for Congress.

Republic Bharat-Jan Ki Baat predicted that the BJP would have a clear majority with 305 seats while Congress would get 124 seats.

India's parliament has a total of 545 seats, out of which the BJP won 282 in the previous general election in 2014 to secure a single-party majority for the first time in around three decades.

Indians voted in the seventh and final phase of national elections Sunday, wrapping up a roughly six-week-long punishing and bitterly-fought election campaign that often turned ugly with politicians hurling personal insults at each other.

To rule a party needs the support of 272 MPs. Counting of votes is scheduled for May 23.

The last round of election includes 59 constituencies in eight states. Up for grabs were 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number in Uttar Pradesh, eight each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, four in Himachal Pradesh and three in Jharkhand and Chandigarh.

Voter turnout in the first six rounds was approximately 66 percent, the Election Commission said compared to the 58 percent in the last general elections in 2014.

Exit polls have a mixed record in a country with an electorate of 900 million people.

Pre-election poll surveys by the media indicate that no party is likely to win anything close to a majority in Parliament with 543 seats. The BJP may need some regional parties as allies to stay in power, those surveys showed.

A Congress-led government will require a major electoral upset.

The BJP dominated most of the campaign and Modi set the agenda. His decision to bomb a purported militant training camp in Pakistan, soon after a suicide attack in the disputed Kashmir region killed 40 policemen, boosted his support.

The opposition lacked a strong counter punch but still appeared to tighten, especially towards the end. Congress and other regional parties sense an opportunity to oust Modi.

With inputs from agencies.

First Published:May 19, 2019 7:21 PM IST