NEW DELHI, May 23 (WNM staff/Newswires) -- The counting of votes was underway in India on Thursday for the just-concluded general elections, and early trends showed the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading the polls.

The final elections results were expected to be announced by late in the night.

In an analysis, The Hindu sees the emotive factor, a new national security narrative, not much discussion about the government, a bad opposition campaign and the lack of powerful alternatives as the reasons for Modis to be expected victory.

As the elections had come to an end, Prim Minister Narendra Modi had tweetd a photo of himself in the Himalayas, writing: "Serene and spiritual. There is something very special about the Himalayas. It is always a humbling experience to return to the mountains."

Live TV news showed the NDA was leading in around 340 parliamentary constituencies out of the counting-trends available so far in 531 constituencies.

A total of 542 parliamentary constituencies went to polls after the election was cancelled in a constituency in southern state of Tamil Nadu.

On the other hand, the opposition alliance of political parties led by the Indian National Congress (INC) was leading in only 92 constituencies, while other parties, mainly state-level smaller parties, were leading in the rest 100 constituencies.

Meanwhile, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP was leading in 277 constituencies, while the INC in 52 constituencies, out of the total 511 trends available so far. Other smaller political parties were leading in the rest constituencies.

For government formation a single political party, or an alliance of political parties, require 272 lawmakers.