Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party looks set to become India’s next prime minister after exit polls showed the BJP winning twice as many seats as the ruling Congress party in the general election.

The polls – published yesterday, the last day of voting in the five-week process – showed the BJP and its allies winning up to 299 of the 543 elected seats in the lower house of parliament. The votes of the more than 500m Indians who cast their ballots will be counted on Friday after a record turnout of over 66 per cent.

Projections by research organisation CVoter yesterday suggested a resounding victory, with the BJP total of 279 to 299 seats giving Mr Modi a majority without the need to find new allies among regional parties. Congress and its allies slumped to between 91 and 111 seats, less than half of their tally in the last election, CVoter said. Other polls, however, predicted a smaller margin, with the Times Now television channel giving the BJP alliance 249 seats – short of the 272 needed for a straight majority – against 148 for Congress and its partners.