New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) India's most bitterly fought parliamentary elections end Monday when the last lot of 41 Lok Sabha constituencies vote in three major states, bringing the curtains down on a five-week-plus process widely expected to end a decade of Congress rule.
An estimated 66 million people will be eligible to vote in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal Monday to pick 41 MPs from among 606 candidates in a contest that has been nationally overshadowed by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Overall, 9,667 candidates fought for the Lok Sabha seats in a poll that showed a high voter turnout among the 814 million electorate, the world's biggest.
And Modi, political analysts say, will remain in the centre of it all -- through the last round Monday and when the millions of votes cast all over the country are counted Friday, May 16.
Congress leaders apart, no one seems to have any doubt that the Congress-led UPA is on its way out. Fingers, however, are crossed on whether a BJP-led coalition led by Modi will secure a clear majority in the 545-member Lok Sabha or will it be forced to hunt for numbers to form a government.
Election watcher G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, who is with the Bharatiya Janata Party, is emphatic that Modi, 63, is all set to become India's next prime minister.
"There is a wave for Modi, and I think this will be the best victory for the BJP ever," Rao told IANS. "The Congress will drop to its lowest tally. We will have a stable BJP government led by Modi on the 16th."
Most opinion polls put the BJP far ahead of the Congress and others although there is some lingering doubt if the BJP and its allies will bag the magic number of 272 to cross the half-way mark in the Lok Sabha.
Political analysts Dipankar Gupta and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta feel in the event the BJP flounders on the victory lap, it could mean a BJP regime led by someone other than Modi.
"There can be a possible resurgence of the BJP's old guard if Modi fails to take the BJP beyond 180-190 seats. In that case, BJP may still form the government but with a different leader," Gupta told IANS.
Thakurta agrees, saying "Indian politics is full of uncertainty".
But the BJP -- and Rao -- refuse to accept a BJP-minus-Modi-government theory.
"We are confident the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will get a clear majority," party spokesman Prakash Javadekar told IANS. "We will actually get more than 272 seats."
But the Congress thinks differently. "We are confident we will form the government," spokesman Sanjay Jha told IANS.
Along with the Lok Sabha election, Sikkim, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh also voted for new assemblies.
Political parties and their leaders ended weeks of tiring campaign Saturday evening, setting the stage for the final round of election Monday in 71,254 polling stations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
One of the 18 Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha constituencies which will vote Monday is Varanasi, the second seat from where Modi is contesting besides Vadodara in Gujarat.
Pitted against him are some 40 candidates but the two most serious challenges are Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and Ajay Rai of the Congress.
The number of constituencies which will vote in West Bengal Monday will be 17 and six in Bihar.
Uttar Pradesh accounts for most candidates in the final round (328) followed by West Bengal (188) and Bihar (90). Uttar Pradesh will have some 31 million voters, West Bengal 25 million and Bihar about 9 million.
The drawn out Lok Sabha contest that began April 7 was one of the most bitterly fought in India, with political discourse repeatedly degenerating into vicious personal attacks.
Analyst Gupta, formerly with the Jawaharlal Nehru University here, felt this was because the Gandhi family that controls the Congress was for the first time threatened deeply in terms of its very ability to function in future.
"And this was done not by a party but a person who has to a large extent destroyed the organisation to which he himself belongs," he said, alluding to the manner Modi has sidelined seniors in the BJP.
IPL auction final list: 590 players will be bidding, 370 Indians and 220 foreigners; Auction on February 12-13
This year's IPL mega auction will be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. On Tuesday, BCCI has released a list of 590 players who will be part of the auction. These players will include 355
Serviceability of Sukhoi jets improving: Parrikar
New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) The serviceability of the Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighter jets have increased over the past eight-nine months, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Tuesday, adding that it
SC allows Doordarshan to telecast Indo-Pak WC match live
New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Millions of cricket fans in the country may get to see India's first World Cup match against traditional rivals Pakistan Feb 15 free of cost as the Supreme Court Tuesday
BJP congratulates Kejriwal
New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday congratulated AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for his party's huge win in Delhi and said it would introspect the reasons for its own
Delhi Mayor: BJP spoiled AAP's game, BJP fielded Rekha Gupta for the post of mayor
After the MCD elections in Delhi, the enthusiasm for the mayoral elections intensified. The Bharatiya Janata Party has spoiled the plans of the Aam Aadmi Party. Your path will not be easy now, hoping
Salman Khan: Advance ticket booking of Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan started, Salman Khan gave information to the fans
The release date of actor Salman Khan's film 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan' is just around the corner. Fans are eagerly waiting for the release of this film. After a gap of two days, this wait is about
Coronavirus: Corona cases caught pace in the country, with 5353 cases in 24 hours; This is the highest in the last 195 days
Corona cases have gained momentum in the country. It is being told that in the last 24 hours, more than five thousand i.e. 5,335 cases of corona have been reported in the country. This figure is the
Claim: Manoj Bajpayee got Rs 10 crore for The Family Man 2, know what the rest of the stars got?
The most awaited web series which everyone was waiting for a long time has been released recently. We are talking about season 2 of The Family Man, which is currently the hot favorite of the audience.
The guru mantra of victory came in the work of Tevatia: The coach said - a change in backlift changed the game; In the match against PBKS, Gujarat won by hitting sixes in the last two balls.
His coach also has a big hand during the performance of Rahul Teotia, who became the hero after scoring 12 runs in the last two balls against Punjab Kings at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday. His
Know on the shortage of coal - what do the government and its figures say, the state is crying about the shortage of coal
Even after denying the possibility of a shortage of coal and power crisis in the country, many states are constantly talking about the shortfall in coal supply and deepening power crisis. The
