India's six-week election ends

Official results will be announced on Tuesday, but exit polls show Prime Minister Modi on track to win and he himself is certain of his success, saying that "the people of India voted in record numbers" to re-elect his government.

India election ends PM Modi's coalition prepares for victory — A voter casts his vote inside a polling station during the seventh and final phase of the Indian general election in Varanasi, India, June 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh

“They have seen our achievements and how our work has brought about qualitative change in the lives of the poor, the marginalized and the needy,” he said on social media platform X.

A post-poll poll from CNN-News18 television forecast that Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition allies would win 355 seats, well above the 272 needed for a majority in the lower house.

Many in the Varanasi constituency were elated at the prospect of his re-election. "I voted for the development and progress of the country," Varanasi resident Brijesh Taksali told AFP outside a polling station.

Modi's image at home has also been bolstered by India's growing diplomatic and economic power - the country is set to overtake the UK to become the world's fifth-largest economy by 2022.

"As an Indian, I feel he has brought a lot of respect and prestige to India during his tenure," Shikha Aggarwal, 40, told AFP as she waited to vote.

“People now look at India and Indians with more respect, which was not there before.”

India voted in seven phases over six weeks to ease the huge logistical burden of holding elections in the world's most populous country of more than 1.4 billion people.

Voter turnout was down a few percentage points from the last national election in 2019, largely due to a heatwave that has scorched India's northern states.

Cao Phong (according to AP, Reuters, CNA)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bau-cu-an-do-ket-thuc-lien-minh-cua-thu-tuong-modi-chuan-bi-gianh-chien-thang-post297770.html