The world’s largest ever elections where voting was completed on Monday may also prove to be India’s most momentous since the country liberalized its economy in 1991.
Two records have already been set:
- Over 65 percent of registered voters actually cast their ballot according to India’s Election Commision. 100 million youth and many older people who did not vote in 2009 are part of this new group.
- The Indian Stock Market, anticipating better economic times, rose to a crescendo in advance of results being declared on Friday. According to the BBC, India’s main stock index, the Sensex, rose 1.7% to 23,941.32 points in early trade on Tuesday. This follows a 2.4% gain on Monday ahead of the exit poll results.
A series of exit polls over Indian television networks on Monday evening projected that the Bhartiya Janata Party and its allies that comprise the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would win 250 to 280 of the 545 seats in the lower house of the Indian Parliament. If those results are correct, it would put the coalition in a position to form a government and topple the Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that has ruled India for the last decade.
