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People in Myanmar are awaiting the results of the first openly contested national election in 25 years, with the National League for Democracy (NLD) expected to make sweeping gains, the BBC reported.

Preliminary results are expected later on Monday.

But NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi has hinted at victory saying: "I think you all have the idea of the results."

The military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) has been in power since 2011.

The acting chairman of the USDP has told BBC Burmese that he has lost his own seat in the constituency of Hinthada to the NLD - seen as a key indicator of election results.

"We have to find out the reason why we lost," U Htay Oo said. "However, we do accept the results without any reservations. We still don't know the final results for sure."

If the NLD wins two-thirds of the contested parliamentary seats, it would end decades of military control.

Ms Suu Kyi was speaking to reporters at the NLD's headquarters in Yangon earlier on Monday. She also said it was "still a bit early to congratulate our candidates who will be the winners".

Tens of thousands of officials and volunteers have been counting the votes, first in each of the 50,000 polling stations, then tallying them in constituency offices of the Election Commission.

In one of the earliest and most significant known results, the ruling party's Shwe Mann, who is speaker of the lower house of parliament, conceded defeat in his constituency to the NLD candidate.