On Tuesday, Indian stocks faced a significant downturn, leading the decline in Asian markets as the country commenced the vote counting process for its 2024 general election.
As the world’s most populous democratic nation initiated the ballot counting at 8 a.m. local time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was anticipated to secure an unprecedented third consecutive term, according to exit polls.
The Nifty 50 index plummeted nearly 4%, while the BSE Sensex witnessed a 1.5% drop, following their record highs on Monday. Preceding the election results, local exit polls conducted over the weekend indicated a probable triumph for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition for a rare third successive term in power.
Initial projections propose that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is likely to secure approximately 365 out of the 543 seats in the lower house of India’s parliament, according to a summary of exit polls by local news channel NDTV.
A recent report from Reuters revealed that Modi’s BJP Alliance is leading with 272 seats in the preliminary stages of the vote counting process.
