The results for Lok Sabha elections in the southern states weren't far off the mark and pretty much stayed on the expected lines.
While the DMK-led alliance has made huge gains in Tamil Nadu, BJP is set to sweep in most of the parliamentary seats in Karnataka.
The Congress-led UDF alliance has inched towards a near clean sweep in Kerala.
Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress is tipped to win 23 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh leaving his opponent, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, high and dry.
TRS is leading in nine seats in Telangana but BJP has also made some substantial gains.
Catch all the highlights of Lok Sabha results here
MK Stalin congratulates PM, hopes for 'progressive govt' based on inclusivity
TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu wins Kuppam Assembly seat, defeating K Chandramouli of YSR Congress by 30,722 votes: Election Commission.
Former PM and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda loses from Tumkur (Karnataka) by 13,339 votes. BJP's GS Basavaraj wins from the constituency.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who seemed headed for a win from Thiruvananthapuram, said he feels like a batsman who has scored a century while his team has lost.
Tharoor's remarks came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party towards what looks set to be a resounding victory for a second term in office.
"As my lead nears 50,000 with 72% counted, I feel like a batsman who has scored a century while his team has lost! It's a bittersweet emotion I will take some time to reflect on," Tharoor tweeted.
The BJP appeared headed for a spectacular win in Karnataka, as trends showed it led in 24 of the 28 total Lok Sabha seats,leaving the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance in a tizzy with worries over its stability.
Reflecting the coalition's woes, stalwarts Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Gulbarga and former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda in Tumkur were trailing their BJP rivals, Election Commision trends showed.
Congress was ahead in two seats and JD(S) in one, with trends available so far indicating that neither arithmetic nor chemistry worked for the two parties which apparently failed to reconcile with each other at the ground level.
Prakash Raj, who is contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Bengaluru Central, has conceded defeat but the actor has vowed to keep fighting for a "secular India", PTI reported.
The National Award winning actor is pitted against Rizwan Arshad of the Congress and sitting BJP MP P C Mohan. The poll battle is currently led by Mohan with over 5.4 lakh votes as against Arshad's tally of 4.9 lakh votes. Raj is way behind at 25,881 votes, according to the Election Commission.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Thursday greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP's "magnificent victory" in the Lok Sabha elections.
The AIADMK Joint Coordinator's congratulatory message to Modi came amidst the counting trends pointing to the BJP-led NDA retaining power at the Centre comfortably.
Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde leading by a margin of 440,000 votes from Uttara Kannada seat.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the spectacular victory of BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls.
He wished that the country march ahead under the leadership of Modi, a release from the Chief Minister's office said.
Rao hailed the victory of YSR Congress in the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh.
He telephoned Reddy to wish him, the release said.
Actor Prakash Raj, who is contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Bengaluru Central, on Thursday left a counting centre midway after learning that he was trailing at number three behind the BJP and the Congress. The National Award winning actor is pitted against Rizwan Arshad of the Congress and sitting BJP MP P C Mohan.
A video posted by a prominent Karnataka daily on Twitter showed Raj, sporting a slight smile, leaving the counting centre with his supporters in tow.
In Gulbarga, Mallikarjun Kharge is trailing by 63,000 votes. In Mandya, Nikhil Kumaraswamy is trailing by 5,379 votes. In Bengaluru North, Congress candidate Krishna Byre Gowda trails by a margin of 85,152 votes.
Congress led-UDF is leading in 19 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala with AICC President Rahul Gandhi and two others ahead of their rivals with over one lakh votes.
As per the latest trends, Rahul Gandhi, who contested from Wayanad constituency, has till 12 PM garnered 1,60,121 votes, while Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P K Kunhalikutty from Malappuram has a lead of 1,37,334 votes.
Thiruvananthapuram candidate Shashi Tharoor isleading with 13,815 votes against BJP candidate Kummanam Rajashekharan, who had resigned as Mizoram Governor to try his luck in the poll fray.
DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in Tamil Nadu appeared headed for a clean sweep as it led in 35 of the 38 Lok Sabha seats in the state Thursday.
The ruling AIADMK, which had registered a landslide in the 2014 elections under the leadership of its supremo late Jayalalithaa, is trailing in most of the 20 seats it contested as also its allies, including the BJP.
The AIADMK-led NDA is ahead in only three constituencies, according to the latest Election Commission trends.
In Gulbarga, Mallikarjun Kharge trails with a margin of 37,274 votes. BJP's Umesh Jadav leads.
According to EC, Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSRCP is leading in all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.
The neck-and-neck battle between independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh and Nikhil Kumaraswamy has swung Sumalatha's way again in Mandya. She leads by just 580 votes in the see-saw battle.
The Congress-led UDF alliance is leading in all the 20 seats in Kerala and it's opponent LDF gave up any leads that it had.
TRS is leading in eight seats in Telagana while BJP and Congress are leading in four seats each. AIMIM chief Owaisi is leading in one seat.
JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda is trailing by 12,000 votes in Tumakuru. During the election campaigning, the BJP had alleged that Gowda had informed his son, PWD MInister H D Revanna, to divert the 24 tmc water meant for Tumakuru to Hassan.
Jana Sena chief and Telugu movie actor Pawan Kalyan continues to trail in Gajuwaka Assembly constituency by 206 votes. YSRCP's Tippala Nagireddy is leading with 3,160 votes.
The Congress-led UDF alliance took lead in 18 out of 20 Kerala seats while LDF is ahead in two seats (Alappuzha and Kasaragod).
As per Election Commission, BJP leads in 17 seats, Congress and JD(S) lead in two seats each in Karnataka.
In the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency DMK alliance candidate Vasantha Kumar has a massive lead over BJP minister Pon Radhakrishnan. After the first round of counting, Vasantha Kumar polled 26,155 votes while Pon Radhakrishnan has polled 9,828 votes.
In Karnataka, Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad is the sole Congress leader leading in Bengaluru. He leads by 25,766 seats in the Bengaluru (Central) constituency.
In Nizamabad, Kalvakuntla Kavitha of TRS is trailing, Arvind Dharmapuri of BJP is leading with 10,952 votes.
JD(S) H D Deve Gowda is trailing with a margin of 5364 votes in Tumakuru. During the election campaigning, the BJP had alleged that Gowda had informed his son, PWD MInister H D Revanna, to divert the 24 tmc water meant for Tumakuru to Hassan.
DMK's Dayanidhi Maran leads with 29,755 votes from the Chennai Central Lok Sabha Constituency. S R Vijayakumar of AIADMK is the sitting MP from Chennai Central.
BJP leads in three Lok Sabha constituencies in the state of Telangana — Karimnagar, Adilabad and Secunderabad.
In Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha elections, YSR Congress is surging ahead with leads in 22 seats while TDP is trailing way behind with leads in 2 seats, says TV9.
DMK's Kanimozhi Karunanidhi leading by over 20,000 votes against BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan in Thoothukudi Lok Sabha seat. Tamilisai Soundararajan has polled just over 10,000 votes.
In Karnataka, Union Minister and BJP candiate Anantkumar Hegde has taken a significant lead of 71,545 votes over JD(S) candidate Anand Asnotikar. BJP is currently leading in 24 out of the 28 seats.
Lok Sabha elections: DMK alliance candidates heading the race across the capital, leading in North, South and Central Chennai.
Assembly Bypolls : DMK leading in 11 seats and AIADMK in 8.
JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda and his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy are leading in Tumakuru, Hassan and Mandya segments constituencies respectively.
Former union minister M Veerappa Moily of the Congress is trailing by 15,000votes in Chikkaballapur. He's up against Bacchegowda of BJP.
Nama Nageswar Rao of TRS, industrialist and former MP, who is contesting from Khammam Lok Sabha constituency, has polled 17,153 votes with 49.42 % of votes polled. He is closely trailed by former minister and Congress MP, Renuka Chowdhury with 12,121 votes.
He might be trailing in Amethi but Rahul Gandhi leads by 40,000 votes in Wayanad. Congress-led UDF alliance is all set to deliver a rout for LDF in Kerala.
BJP leads in Chitradurga, Chamarajanagar, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Dharwad, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru South, Belagavi, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, Ballari, Bagalakote, Bidar, Mysuru-Kodagu, Raichur, Vijayapura, Shivamogga, Haveri, Kalaburgi, Koppal, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Chikkodi. Congress leads in Bengaluru Rural and the JD(S) leads in Tumakuru, Mandya and Hassan as on 9.15, says Suvarna News
BJP has lost their lead in Thiruvananthapuram as UDF's Shashi Tharoor leads in the seat. UDF leads in 14 seats, LDF leads in 6 and NDA leads in 0 seats.
DMK alliance leading in eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu. DMK candidates lead in Namakkal, Thoothukudi, Kanchipuram, Perambalur, Tirunelveli and Kallakurichi. Congress candidates lead in Trichy and Sivaganga.
Prajwal Revanna, JD(S) candidate and grandson Of Deve Gowda, leading from Hassan.
JD(S) Supremo H D Deve Gowda leads in Tumakuru after he vacated his home segment Hassan for his grandson Prajwal.
DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday said that BJP-led NDA government at the Centre would be overthrown after the counting of Lok Sabha poll votes and Congress president Rahul Gandhi would become the new Prime Minister.
Elections to the Wayanad parliamentary constituency was held on April 23 along with 19 other seats from the state of Kerala. Congress president Rahul Gandhi contested from here apart from standing in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP candidate from Wayanad is Thushar Vellappally.
Police deployed additional personnel at the residences of Naidu, who is also the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President, and Reddy in Tadepally block of Guntur district, PTI reported.
With mixed exit poll predictions generating political heat in the state of Andhra Pradesh, both parties have expressed apprehensions that the other might resort to violence during counting on Thursday.
Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda claimed on Wednesday that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka would collapse after the Lok Sabha poll results and HD Kumaraswamy would be the chief minister only till May 24 morning, PTI reported.
Gowda, a former Karnataka chief minister, also said the stage would be ready for the formation of a new government in the state after that.
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