India election result: Vote counting begins

• India has begun counting votes in the country's general elections
• The world's most populous nation went to polls in seven phases, over six weeks

Here are the live updates on Tuesday, June 4:

06/04/2024June 4, 2024

Vote count kicks off

Counting of ballots began on Tuesday in India’s mammoth general elections as exit polls on the weekend widely projected incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi easing into a third term. 

The poll count of 642 million votes started at 8 am local time (4.30 am CET). Counting is taking place at centers in each of the 543 constituencies where polls were held and is likely to stretch until the evening.

"People should know about the strength of Indian democracy," chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference on Monday, adding that there was a "robust counting process in place."

06/04/2024June 4, 2024

What happened at the world's largest democratic election?

India went to polls to elect its Prime Minister on April 19. 

The lengthy exercise was spread across seven phases, culminating with the last leg of voting on June 1.

With India being the world's most populous country, it was the world's largest general election. 

Around 970 million voters, over 10% of the world's population, were eligible to cast their ballots in the election that was held amid a scorching heat wave with temperatures reaching nearly 50° Celsius (122° Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Election heat, too, soared in the last six weeks that saw an intense political battle for over 500 seats in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of India's Parliament.

dvv/rmt (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)