In case you're wondering, here's the final tally of parties in the Lok Sabha elections

After a long election process that lasted more than a month, India’s 16th general elections came to an end on 16 May.

And what a stunner of an end it was: the Bharatiya Janta Party not just became the leading party, it gained an absolute majority, with 282 seats.

The Congress, which led the previous government, was decimated, barely managing to hang on to 44 seats. It was the worst showing for the party – and the best-ever for the BJP. The BJP’s 282 seats was the best showing by a single party since 1984.

The BJP and its allies (National Democratic Alliance) collectively won 337/543 seats, also a massive blow to the Congress-led UPA, whose seat losses were highest in states where voter turnout was significantly ahead of 2009, a Barclays report dated 17 May noted.

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The NDA net gained seats in 22/30 states - making significant inroads particularly in UttarPradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. The final tally in the key battleground state of UP at 73/80seats was significantly ahead of what the recent opinion polls and the 12 May exit polls hadforecast.

Surprisingly, the exit polls got it more or less right for a change. Nevertheless, the scale of the NDA victory today hassurprised even the most optimistic opinion/exit polls. “Such a strong verdict not only indicates a preference forMr. Modi’s pro-growth agenda but also gives him the necessary numbers toimplement his plan,” the Barclays report noted.

Here’s how the 16th Lok Sabha looks like:

All data from the Election Commission of India. For a detailed breakdown of each party’s seats, click on this link.