Although the counting was in progress, the trends released by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to the polls indicated the BJP was leading on 290 seats while the Congress on only 52 seats.

The party has planned a huge gathering for a grand welcome for Narendra Modi as it has invited people to reach its headquarters in large numbers.

"You are invited to join BJP's victory celebrations at BJP headquarters at 6/A Deendayal Upadhyay Marg," the message read.

BJP chief Amit Shah is also likely to reach the party headquarters around 2 p.m.

Parliamentary Borad, the BJP's highest decision making body, is also to meet late in the evening or on Friday, a party official said.