Millions of Indian voters wrapped up the country’s mammoth national election yesterday, braving the searing sun on the final day of polling in which a Hindu nationalist opposition candidate is seen as the front-runner for prime minister.
With 814 million eligible voters, India has been voting in phases over six weeks, with results expected on Friday.
The main Hindu opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) went into the election with strong momentum on promises of economic growth. Early polls suggest there is deep dissatisfaction with the governing Indian Congress party’s 10 years in power.
Exit polls, which in India are notorious for going wrong, were expected yesterday night after the final round of voting ends.
Thousands lined up early yesterday to vote in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the main BJP candidate for prime minister, is seeking election.
Modi is locked in a battle with Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of India’s anti-corruption party, and Ajay Rai of the Congress party.
A clash erupted as the voting opened in West Bengal state, where Ajay Dasgupta, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) spokesman, accused governing Trinamool Congress workers of firing at his party supporters, wounding four of them.
The clash was reported in a village 35km northeast of Calcutta, the state capital.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center said 63 percent of Indians prefer the BJP over the incumbent Congress Party.
Modi’s chief rival is Rahul Gandhi, the 43-year-old vice president of Congress and scion of the Gandhi family.
Indians turned out in large numbers to vote, with the Indian Election Commission saying the turnout percentage over the six weeks in 502 parliamentary constituencies until Thursday last week was 66.27 percent, up from 58.13 percent in 2009 elections.
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