As parties await LS results, sweet shops gear up for celebrations

Going by exit poll projections, which are predicting that the NDA will retain power at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Thursday's counting of votes polled in the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is gearing up for a sweet celebration!

The BJP headquarters in the national capital are all decked up and sweet shop owners in Chandni Chowk, which is famed for its 'mithais', say they have received large orders for different sweets.

One shop owner in Chandni Chowk said that a BJP leader has placed an order for 50 kilograms of 'pista badam burfi' with a lotus symbol.

Another sweet shop in central Delhi has made special cakes with ladoos. which looks to be a mouthwatering treat. A special 7kg 'ladoo' cake along with nine similar cakes of 4-5 kgs each has been ordered for the celebrations, the shop owner said.

At a sweet shop in Mumbai, as much as 3,000 kilograms of 'ladoos' are being prepared for distribution and workers engaged in the making of 'ladoos' are wearing 'Modi masks' as they roll out the delicacy!

Sweet shop owners in Ludhiana are also busy in churning out sweets. A shop owner said: "We've received orders of 10-12 quintal of laddoos from BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress. The orders have been coming in right after the exit polls."

Reports of large scale orders for sweets have also come in from other places.

Meanwhile, down south in Puducherry, a pooja and mahayagam seeking divine blessings for the victory of Prime Minister Modi in the Lok Sabha elections were performed.

Around 300 BJP workers sat around the sacred fire and performed rituals holding Prime Minister photo in their hand and later they distributed 'prasadam' to the public.

Elections to 542 Lok Sabha seats were held across the country in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The counting will take place on Thursday from 8 am.

Exit polls on Sunday projected BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to retain power at the Centre with most of the pollsters giving Prime Minister Modi a clear majority again in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

In the 2014 general elections, the NDA got 341 seats of which BJP alone accounted for 282 seats. The UPA had 60 seats, of which 44 were won by the Congress.