India election live results 2024: By the numbers

Al Jazeera breaks down the results of the Lok Sabha after a seven-week voting process.

After 44 days of an election across seven phases, The Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun its count of more than 600 million votes cast by Indians as they choose their next national government.

The vote count started at 8am local time (02:30 GMT), and the final results should be clear later on June 4.

At stake are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of India’s Parliament.

Here is how the main two alliances are doing, according to the latest updates from the ECI.

The map below represents the 543 seats in India’s lower house of Parliament. As results are announced, seats will be shaded to indicate preliminary “leading” or finalised “winning” outcomes.

Each hexagon represents one seat, so densely populated but geographically small constituencies are shown equally with large districts to better reflect the democratic power in parliament. The geographical map is shown below for reference.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), comprises more than three dozen parties and is expected, by exit polls, to win a majority in the general election. Modi, 73, who has been in power since 2014, is seeking a third term.

The opposition INDIA alliance, led by the Indian National Congress (INC) party, is a group of more than two dozen political outfits hoping to remove the BJP’s Hindu majoritarian government.

Since 2004, India has used electronic voting machines (EVMs) instead of paper ballots.

These machines, which are not connected to the internet, have been sealed and stored in a strongroom in the parliamentary constituency.

On the day of counting, the EVMs are