The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday was ahead with leads in 227 parliamentary seats out of 392 for which trends were available, with opposition INDIA bloc ahead in at least 137, Election Commission data showed.

BJP alone was leading on 187 seats and won Surat uncontested, while Congress was ahead in 70 seats at 9:45 am.

Union Minister Smriti Irani was trailing in Amethi and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi in Sultanpur. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was leading with a slender margin in Nagpur.

Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.

According to the Conduct of Election Rules, postal ballots were taken up for counting first and the process of counting of votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs) began 30 minutes later.

The process of counting votes cast through postal ballots and EVMs will continue simultaneously.

While the Lok Sabha has 543 members, counting is being held for 542 seats after the BJP's Surat candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed.

Counting of votes is also underway for the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, where polling was held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.

Elections to the assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim were also held alongside the Lok Sabha polls. The results of these elections were declared on June 2.

Since 2019, VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency -- or segment in case of Lok Sabha seats -- are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.