NEW DELHI – The Latest on India’s general election (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
Voting in India’s mammoth national election has ended with the seventh and final phase of a grueling poll that lasted more than five weeks, with exit polls predicting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its allies will win the right to govern for another five years.
Vote counting begins on Thursday, and the election result will likely be known the same day.
Exit polls by two leading television news channels, Republic and TimesNow, projected a victory for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies with 287 to 305 seats out of 543 — far ahead of the 272 seats needed to form the next government.
The election is seen as a referendum on Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP’s main opposition is the Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has produced three prime ministers.
Watch: JD Vance Explains How Iran Deal Is ‘Fundamentally’ Different Than Obama’s JCPOA
Vance shares how he’s gearing up for lion’s den debut on ‘The View’
Trump’s Iran deal sparks GOP demands for vote as Congress remains in the dark
NC School Pays Dearly After Admin Wildly Bullied Student Who Wrote Sweet Message About Charlie Kirk
FBI thwarts explosive drone attack against UFC Freedom 250 fight
Trump says he had a ‘very good meeting’ with Zelensky at G7
Pentagon files reveal agents’ reports of ‘orbs launching orbs’ near sensitive US security site
FBI disrupts alleged explosive-drone plot targeting White House UFC event, officials say
Multiple Sources Confirm GOP Senator Attempted IVF Expansion During NDAA Talks
Trump Comes Out Against FISA ‘If it Doesn’t Come with the Save America Act,’ Complicating Congressional Showdown
Is AI Making Us Dumb?
Trump admin puts alleged ‘birth tourism’ scheme on notice as expert delivers warning to hospitals
Teen accused of killing stepsister on Carnival cruise ship ordered detained before murder trial
Robert De Niro Says He Can’t Love America While ‘Xenophobic Tyrant’ Trump is President
Breaking: Gavin Newsom and His Wife Are Reportedly Under DOJ Investigation
___
7:30 a.m.
Indians are voting in the seventh and final phase of national elections, wrapping up a 6-week-long long, grueling campaign season with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party seeking reelection for another five years.
The voting on Sunday also covers Modi’s constituency of Varanasi, a holy Hindu city where he was elected in 2014.
The election is seen as a referendum on Modi’s five-year rule. He has adopted a nationalist pitch in trying to win votes from the country’s Hindu majority by projecting a tough stance against Pakistan, India’s Muslim-majority neighbor and archrival.
The Congress and other opposition parties are challenging him over a high unemployment rate of 6.1% and farmers’ distress aggravated by low crop prices.
Counting of votes is scheduled for May 23.
Story cited here.
