Live: LS Election 2014; Narendra Modi to be India's next Prime Minister

New Delhi: After over a month's speculation and anticipation the day that the nation has been waiting for has finally arrived. The counting has begun and very soon the picture of the new government will be clear. The counting initiated at 8 AM. 989 counting centres have been set up across the country by the Election Commission. Postal ballots were be counted first followed by counting of EVMs. The ultimate outcome would be apparent by 3 pm today. Just to brief you in on as to how the votes are counted we will let you know in the details. Before counting, the seals on the control unit are duly checked. Once the seals are found in order, the ballot unit is switched on and the results button pressed. This brings up details such as number of candidates, total votes cast and distribution of votes among the candidates as well as NOTA option on the display panel of the EVM.The result is noted by the counting supervisor. This is then attested by the counting supervisor and counter-signed by candidates or their agents present at the counting table. The form is then sent to the returning officer, who inspects and signs it, before passing it on to the officer who is compiling the final result and preparing the final result sheet.After the entire counting is over, the returning officer announces the total votes polled by each candidate as recorded in the final result sheet. It is only after this that the candidate or his agent may apply for a recount.The returning officer will decide whether to allow the request for recounting of votes in EVM. A recount is not allowed after the returning officer has completed and signed the result sheet.Election Commission scrutinizes the entire process. If at any point of time it feels that any malpractice is taking place, it has the authority to stop the counting process. Election Commission holds the right for the final verdict. So far the exit poll has it that BJP will achieve a majority. Congress on the other hand has much to lose. As per media surveys, AAP is out of the race. Here are the live updates of the counting of votes of LS Elections 2014:03:00 pm: Mehbooba Mufti wins from Anantnag 02:58 pm: Manmohan Singh congratulates Modi02:58 pm: Shashi Tharoor wins in Thiravananthapuram02:30 pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad loses in Udhampur 12:55 pm: Sonia Gandhi leads by 2.21 Lakh votes12:50 pm: India has won, says Modi 12:45 pm: BJP leads in 272 seats: Election Commission 12:36 pm: Polling trends: BJP+ 326; Congress+ 74; AAP 3; Others 13912:15 pm: Modi goes to Gandhinagar to seek his mother's blessing11:40 am: Narendra Modi wins in Vadodara10:45 am: BJP leads in final round in Thiruvananthapuram 09:37 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 272; Congress+ 84; AAP 5; Others 10809:34 am: L K Advani leads in Gandhinagar09:31 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 256; Congress+ 88; AAP 5; Others 11009:30 am: Modi leads by 2,00,000 votes in Varanasi09:29 am: Priya Dutt trails in North Central Mumbai09:15 am: Jaitley trails in Amritsar 09:14 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 201; Congress+ 89; AAP 5; Others 9609:06 am: Arun Jaitley leads in Amritsar by 36oo votes09:05 am: AAP leads in Sangrur, Punjab 09:02 am: JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav trails in Madhepura 08:59 am: Harshvardhan leads in Chandni Chowk08:57 am: Aam Admi party gets two leads according to polling lead from Punjab08:56 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 159; Congress+ 71; AAP 2; Others 7408: 55 am: Rahul Gandhi lags behind Smriti Irani in Amethi08:54 am: Sonia Gandhi leads in Rae Bareli08:53 am: Modi leads in Vadodara, Varanasi Advani leads in Gandhinagar 08:51 am: Uma Bharti leads in Jhansi 08:51 am: Mulayam Singh leads in Mainpuri 08:47 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 131; Congress+ 51; AAP 1; Others 4308:39 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 112; Congress+ 42; AAP 1; Others 3308:37 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 103; Congress+ 42; AAP 0; Others 2708:36 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 76; Congress+ 39; AAP 0; Others 3108: 25 am: Polling trends: BJP+ 39; Congress+ 15; AAP 0; Others 1108:00 am: Counting of postal ballots has begun