LS polls: Narendra Modi seeks crowning victory in India election climax
Varanasi: Voters headed to the polls on Monday in the climax of India's marathon election, with frontrunner Narendra Modi seeking a crowning victory in the holy city of Varanasi for his Bharatiya Janata Party.
Modi was standing as a candidate in the famed pilgrimage site on the banks of the Ganges in the final phase of the world's biggest election, which has been marred by religious divisions and a vitriolic campaign.
The 63-year-old, expected to become prime minister if the Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies secure a majority when results are announced on Friday, urged residents to turn out in record numbers.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is competing from Varanasi and hoping to upset Modi, who has spent little time in the city as he campaigned across the country.
"I have voted for the about-to-be PM of India, Narendra Modi," 35-year-old Setupati Tripathi told AFP after casting his ballot.
"With him winning the Varanasi seat, I am also confident about the development of this millennia-old city as a tourist destination," he added.
The first voters filed into polling stations at 07:00 am, with figures later expected to confirm strong turnout in the most high-profile contest of the five weeks of voting.
The four-time chief minister of the western state of Gujarat has campaigned on a pledge of development, investment and jobs to revive the flagging economy after 10 years of leftist rule by the Congress party.
But he remains a deeply polarising figure over allegations that he failed swiftly to curb deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat which left at least 1,000 people dead shortly after he came to power there.
Varanasi, a sacred city around 420 miles (680 kilometres) east of Delhi includes a large Muslim population, which would be expected to vote against Modi.
"The way things have been shaping up in the last three days, everybody is saying Modi is losing," Kejriwal, who has focused on a grassroots campaign, told reporters in Varanasi on Monday.
First exit polls expected
More than 66 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots on Monday in three electorally critical states in the final phase of the election, which began on April 7.
There were 41 seats up for grabs on Monday in Uttar Pradesh and the neighbouring states of Bihar and West Bengal. Nationwide counting takes place on Friday and results are expected on the same day.
Opinion polls show voters have turned against Congress over massive graft scandals, spiralling inflation and a sharp economic slowdown in the last two years.
The BJP is forecast to win the most seats in the 543-member parliament but will likely fall short of an outright majority, meaning it will need to forge a coalition with regional parties.
India's opinion polls have however proved wrong in the past and can be unreliable given the size and remoteness of sections of the country, which has 814 million eligible voters.
In a video message, Modi paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands who "stood out in the scorching sun for hours to give strenth to our democracy".
He also praised Varanasi for "its peace, its goodwill and its unity". Rahul Gandhi, who has headed a lacklustre Congress campaign, has denied that his party is staring at almost certain defeat.
Modi, the son of a tea-stall owner who rose through the BJP ranks, has derided his opponent, the scion of the Gandhi dynasty which has produced three prime ministers, as a reluctant "shehzada" (prince).
Beleaguered Gandhi and other Congress leaders have hit back, accusing Modi of being dangerously divisive and prejudiced against the country's 150 million Muslims.
Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed stressed that opinion polls had failed to predict a victory for his party and its allies in 2004, when they ousted a BJP-led coalition, and in 2009.
"We anticipate that we will be able to attain a majority with our alliance partners, but all calls will be taken by (the) party after final results are announced," he told a press conference in New Delhi.
