India's governing coalition was running ahead of Sonia Gandhi's Congress party in exit polls following the initial phase of parliamentary elections, but was nowhere near the runaway lead projected by its leaders and earlier surveys, news reports said yesterday.
Nearly 100 million Indians took part in first day of voting in the world's largest democratic exercise, defying deadly rebel attacks to vote. Turnout was a little under the past national average of 60 percent, blamed by analysts on voter fatigue and the summer temperatures, hovering around 40?C.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance is expected to return to power for another five-year term. Vajpayee's multiparty coalition -- headed by his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party -- entered the elections buoyed by good harvests, expected 8 percent economic growth and high prospects for peace with Pakistan.
The Congress party, which headed India for nearly four decades under the leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, claims India's rural poor have been left behind by the government's push for economic growth.
Tuesday's balloting was for 140 of parliament's 543 seats. Four other daylong polls will be held until May 10, with the next vote today in the northeastern state of Tripura.
Violence across the country killed 15 people and wounded 18 during polling on Tuesday.
An exit poll conducted by The Indian Express newspaper and New Delhi Television network said Vajpayee's alliance was likely to win 75 of the 140 seats elected on Tuesday, with 53 going to the Congress and its allies.
With a sample size of more than 23,000 voters, the exit poll was conducted in 57 of the 140 districts, with varying margins of error across states, but not exceeding 3 percent, the paper said.
Actual vote results will not be revealed until counting starts three days after the final polling.
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