India votes in final phase of election

12/05/2014| IslamWeb

Indians in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh began voting in the final phase of Lok Sabha, with the BJP's Narendra Modi expected to lead his Hindu nationalists to victory after 10 years of Congress party rule.

Modi, of the right-wing opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, will be vying to win his seat in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi six weeks after the start of the world's biggest election, which has been marred by religious divisions and personal attacks.

Modi urged voters to turn out in record numbers on Monday to throw the scandal-plagued Congress party, run by India's most famous political dynasty, the Gandhis, from power after 10 years in charge.

"People are tired of false promises, corruption and the same old tape-recorded messages," Modi said in a blog after campaigning officially ended on Saturday night.

"They want a better tomorrow and NDA is the only alliance that can provide this change," Modi added, referring to a BJP-led National Democratic Alliance opposition coalition.

Counting takes place on Friday and results are expected on the same day.

Opinion polls show voters have turned against Congress, which has dominated Indian politics since independence, over massive graft scandals, spiraling inflation and a sharp economic slowdown during its two terms in charge of a coalition government.

The BJP is expected to win the most seats in the 543-member parliament, but it will likely fall short of an outright majority, meaning it will need to forge its own coalition with smaller and regional parties.

India's opinion polls have proved wrong in the past and can be unreliable given the size and remoteness of sections of the country, which has 814 million eligible voters, the biggest electorate in history.

Rahul Gandhi, who has headed a lackluster Congress campaign, denied in comments published on Sunday that his party was staring at almost certain defeat.

"I am confident that the voters will give a mandate to an inclusive, fair and unifying (Congress) government," he said in an interview to the Hindi-language Hindustan newspaper.

"The Congress understands the needs of the people, particularly those who are poor and disadvantaged."

 

PHOTO CAPTION

Indian elections workers learn to use and check electronic voting machines at an Elections Commission facility before moving to a polling station on May 11, 2014 in Varanasi, India.

Aljazeera