The Election Commission of India will tally hundreds of millions of votes in a matter of hours, declaring the results of the country's 18th Lok Sabha election after six weeks and seven stages of the world's largest democratic exercise.

The results will determine who will lead India's next government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP will seek a third consecutive term in government, while the Congress-led opposition aims to unseat them.

The voter participation in the last phase of the general election 2024 increased to 63.9% by Sunday evening, up from 61.6% reported by the Election Commission at 11.45 p.m. on Saturday.

Phase 7 polling statistics showed a gradual improvement from Phase 5, which had the lowest turnout at 62.2%, to Phase 6, when 63.2% of the electorate voted.

Turnout, which is currently based on EVM votes and does not include postal ballots, has fluctuated throughout the stages, with Phase 4 recording the highest polling at 69.2%, followed by 66.7% in Phase 2, 66.1% in Phase 1, and 65.7% in Phase 3.

According to the Voter Turnout app, West Bengal has the highest polling rate among the states in Phase 7 (77%). Three additional states recorded turnouts of more than 70%: Odisha, with 74.4% of voters voting, and Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh, both with 70.9%.

Chandigarh, a Union territory, trailed closely behind with 68% of the vote. However, Punjab's EVM turnout of 62.8% was much lower than its 2019 turnout of 65.9%, which did include postal ballots.

The slowest polling was in the cowbelt states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with 55.9% and 53.3%, respectively.

The BJP and its NDA are expected to win the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh in the recently finished parliamentary elections, according to  News18MegaExitPoll.

Due to its numerical strength, the Hindi belt is important in determining political power in India. The northern states account for 245 seats in the Lok Sabha, while the Hindi belt, excluding Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, has 226.

For the National Democratic Alliance, opposition INDIA alliance leaders dismissed the numbers, claiming they would form the Centre's government after gaining at least 295 seats.