Voting ends in India
May 12, 2014
The last phase of voting began on Monday morning, with 66 million residents casting their ballots in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. It marks the end of the world's biggest election, which began five weeks ago on April 7.
Those who voted on Monday braved extreme heat to elect 41 more lawmakers to India's 543-member parliament, the Lok Sabha, or House of the People.
Exit polls are predicting that the opposition pro-business Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win a majority of seats when results are made public, likely on Friday. Voters are expected to punish the Indian National Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, following 10 years in power and amid a series of corruption scandals.
However, India's electorate of 814 million eligible voters is notoriously difficult to predict, and pre and post-election opinion polls have proved wrong in the past, making elections difficult to call.
Divisive candidate
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narenda Modi, was seeking a personal mandate in the constituency of the holy city of Varanasi - a decision seen to reinforce his Hindu nationalist credentials.
The spotlight has also focused on the battle in Varanasi between the BJP and the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi party, which is hoping to upset Modi's push.
The 63-year-old is a popular but divisive leader whose tenure as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat saw some of India's bloodiest Hindu-Muslim riots. He has promised development and jobs to revive the economy.
Indian election officials are also predicting a record voter turnout, currently running at more than 66 per cent. The previous best of 64 per cent was in 1984, when Indian National Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi came to power.
"The high turnout is mainly due to a proactive campaign by the Election Commission to encourage people to vote as well as an enthusiasm among people, most of whom are expecting to change their government," said Sanjay Kumar, the director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi.
jr/se (dpa, Reuters, AFP)