Modi on track to win majority

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP has crossed the halfway mark on its own steam and leads showed an NDA sweep in the national elections within two hours of counting of votes. The NDA is ahead with the BJP securing 348 seats while Rahul Gandhi's Congress has 90 seats so far as the results of another 104 states are yet to be released. A Party needs 272 seats in the Indian Parliament to establish a Government. The BJP is doing well in most states, including the three heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, wrested by the Congress in December. It is also ahead in Karnataka - a state the Congress rules jointly with HD Kumaraswamy. The Congress is ahead in Punjab and Tamil Nadu, where it joined hands with the DMK. Elections were held on 542 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and a party or alliance needs 272 seats to form the government.