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00:00We're going to cross then live to New Delhi now. Talk to our correspondent, Sarah Jacob, who joins us from there.
00:05Sarah, lots of indications, aren't there, that Modi has won? Notably, new exit polls coming out.
00:14Well, if the exit polls are to be believed, then Prime Minister Modi is on the cusp of making history
00:19by being elected for the third consecutive time, an honour so far held only by one other Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
00:27Today's papers are reporting that a confident BJP has already placed mass orders with florists and sweet shops,
00:34anticipating that they will be hosting celebratory parties at their headquarters.
00:39The Prime Minister, in his first comments after the voting closed, made on the social networking site X,
00:45formerly known as Twitter, claimed victory without referring to the exit polls.
00:50Now, the exit polls have had a patchy record in India. They've been famously known to get it wrong in the past.
00:57Analysts point out that given the size and scale of this country, it is challenging, to say the least, to get it right.
01:04And the opposition is hoping that this is going to be one of those cases.
01:07The opposition is saying, hold your horses, you're jumping the gun. They're predicting that the BJP will be left smarting.
01:15Now, which side is bluffing? That will be known in the next 24 hours.
01:18But yes, as we go into counting day, the momentum right now is well and truly with the ruling BJP.
01:26And Samira, this comes as well, doesn't it, as a top opponent of Modi is said to be watching these results from behind bars.
01:37Well, as the counting begins in a few hours from now, in an unprecedented situation,
01:42the chief minister of Delhi, the national capital of India, Arvind Kejriwal, a Magsaysay award winner,
01:50a vocal critic of the BJP, will be receiving these results as they come in from behind bars.
01:57Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in March in connection with an investigation into an alleged corruption case.
02:04Now, his party says that this arrest was at the behest or choreographed by the ruling BJP in order to intimidate them
02:13and in order to weaken them in this critical election year.
02:17Arvind Kejriwal is a vocal critic and a strong leader of the opposition ruling alliance here in India.
02:27Now, the analysts point out that the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal was a catalyst moment in this election.
02:34They say it brought together a divided opposition like never before.
02:38Well, that unity, that opposition unity, which has been under the scanner, which has been the focus of the press,
02:44is going to be tested tomorrow as the results come in.
02:48Sarah, a lot more from you, I'm sure, then, as those results do come in here on France 24.
02:52Thanks very much for now, though. We'll be covering it, of course, tomorrow.