BJP's vote share slumps, Cong scores better than 2019

The Bharatiya Janata Party's vote share suffered a decline this time while the Congress and the Samajwadi party garnered more votes compared to what they did in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, according to Election Commission data on Tuesday.

The BJP, which contested more seats this time than in 2019 but is likely to fall short of the magic figure of 272, garnered 36.57 percent of the total votes polled, a drop of around 0.73 percentage points as of 12.15 am.

On the other hand, the Congress' vote share increased by 1.74 percentage points to reach 21.20 percent and it was also reflected in its seat tally. The party's vote share was 19.46 percent in 2019.

The INDIA bloc has successfully put up a spirited fight with the Congress set to win 99 seats, close to double of its 2019 tally.

The main opposition party saw its electoral fortunes improve in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the key north Indian state where its ally the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi party almost doubled its vote share to 4.59 percent from 2.55 percent in 2019.

Janata Dal-United saw a marginal dip in its vote share as it bagged 1.25 percent votes compared to 1.45 percent in 2019.

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress saw its vote share increase from 4.06 percent in the 2019 elections to 4.37 percent this time.

On the other hand, the vote share of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samajwadi Party reduced by 1.58 percentage points to settle at 2.04 percent.

The AAP's vote share was 0.44 percent in 2019 which increased to 1.11 percent this time.

Among the southern state parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's vote share dropped from 2.34 percent in 2019 to 1.82 percent as of 12.15 am.

The BJP's Andhra Pradesh ally Telugu Desam Party saw its vote share decrease marginally to 1.98 percent from 2.04 percent five years ago.

The vote share of the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh also reduced to 2.06 percent from 2.53 percent in 2019.