General election vote count begins in India

CHANDIGARH, India

The counting of votes in elections in India’s lower house of parliament began at 8 a.m. (0300GMT) Thursday, officials said.

The Indian Election Commission says it will provide real-time trends and results of the results.

More than 8,000 candidates are competing for 542 parliamentary constituencies and the results are expected to be known later Thursday amid tightened security at counting centers.

The government Wednesday issued an advisory warning states about possible violence when votes are counted.

Top opposition leaders Tuesday met the Indian Election Commission after videos appeared on social media that showed Electronic Voting Machines being moved in north Indian states.

Many alleged an attempt to tamper with results -- a charge rejected by the election commission.

Results of voting machines will be matched with paper trial machines. Authorities say it will take place at five polling stations per assembly segment. Each parliamentary constituency has many assembly segments.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to win a comfortable majority, according to exit polls. Opposition parties, however, have rejected the exit polls.

With the world’s largest electorate of nearly 900 million, elections were held in seven phases with voting beginning April 11 and the final vote cast May 19.