New Delhi : Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked to be headed for a landslide win on Thursday in the world’s biggest general election

With 515 leads in, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was ahead in 338 seats and Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was ahead in 105.

Exit polls released last week pointed to a large victory for the BJP, which would enable them to create history with back-to-back clear mandates.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi was trailing his main rival Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, and the BJP looked to confound all expectations by repeating their 2014 landslide in India’s most populous state. Rahul was leading in his second seat, Wayanad in Kerala.

Elections were held to 542 seats, with the poll in Vellore constituency cancelled. A simple majority is 272 seats.

Stock markets cheered the verdict, with the Bombay Sensex climbing 1.5%, raising the prospect that it would cross the 40,000-mark for the first time.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, seen as a key member of any opposition formation that could counter Modi, was getting routed in his own state, where assembly elections were held. He was trailing by 12 seats to 86 against Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP party.

In Karnataka, the BJP was heading for a near-sweep, ahead in 25 seats out of 28. This could threaten the survival of the JD(S)- Congress coalition in the state.

In Bengal, the BJP looked set to make history, overtaking the Trinamool of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

At the Centre, the BJP’s campaign has been centred around Modi, who managed to make this a presidential-type election.

Congress created a minor flutter with a well-thought-out manifesto but soon lost its way in the face of an aggressive and sometimes cynical campaign by the BJP that fully exploited the leniency of the Election Commission. The BJP is also likely to have gained from retaliatory air strikes against Pakistan after a terror attack in Kashmir, and a strong showing on the infrastructure front.

Like him or loathe him, Modi is seen as a strong and decisive leader, and voters may have leant towards a clear and stable choice versus the possible chaos that could follow an opposition victory, with many claimants for the top job.