Indian voters have swung massively behind Narendra Modi's right-wing opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which may be able to secure a parliamentary majority with existing allies, exit polls indicated Monday.
The BJP was forecast to win 249 of the 543 seats in parliament while its partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get a further 40, according to a survey by CVoter that predicted the ruling Congress party's share would fall to a record low of 78.
Another poll for the India Today group, released shortly after the end of the final round of voting Monday, predicted the NDA would win around 272 seats.
The pollsters stressed that the margin of error made a firm prediction impossible and previous polls have proven inaccurate.
Even if Modi and his allies fall short of a majority, the projected results would represent a spectacular rise on the BJP's showing in the last election in 2009 when it won 116 seats against 206 for Congress.
Modi has already indicated that he is looking to find further allies among a host of regional parties which would give him a much more stable coalition, telling the Times Now television network last week that "the best way to run a country is to take everyone together".
Many analysts have forecast that Modi will seek to bring the Tamil Nadu-based AIADMK party into his coalition, with CVoter predicting that it would win 27 seats in the main southern state.
Indian voters have swung massively behind Narendra Modi’s right-wing opposition Bharatiya Janata Party which may be able to secure a parliamentary majority with existing allies, exit polls indicated Monday.
The BJP was forecast to win 249 of the 543 seats in parliament while its partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get a further 40, according to a survey by CVoter that predicted the ruling Congress party’s share would fall to a record low of 78.
Another poll for the India Today group, released shortly after the end of the final round of voting Monday, predicted the NDA would win around 272 seats.
The pollsters stressed that the margin of error made a firm prediction impossible and previous polls have proven inaccurate.
Even if Modi and his allies fall short of a majority, the projected results would represent a spectacular rise on the BJP’s showing in the last election in 2009 when it won 116 seats against 206 for Congress.
Modi has already indicated that he is looking to find further allies among a host of regional parties which would give him a much more stable coalition, telling the Times Now television network last week that “the best way to run a country is to take everyone together”.
Many analysts have forecast that Modi will seek to bring the Tamil Nadu-based AIADMK party into his coalition, with CVoter predicting that it would win 27 seats in the main southern state.
