WORLD BRIEFING / INDIA
India’s monthlong election has ended, with tens of millions of people casting ballots in a vote widely expected to usher in a shaky coalition government. Though results will not be announced until Saturday, polls indicated the Congress Party-led ruling coalition could be narrowly ahead of the opposition Hindu nationalist alliance.
But with the existing alliances deeply fragile, and both main parties set to launch their final quests for allies once the results are officially announced, little in the political scene was clear.
Wednesday’s polling was the fifth and final phase of the elections in the nation of nearly 1.2 billion people, where voting is staggered for logistical and security reasons. More than 100 million voters in nine states were eligible to vote Wednesday, deciding 86 seats in India’s 543-seat lower house of Parliament.
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