About two-thirds of the voters out of an electorate of around 814 million in India have exercised their rights in the biggest democracy in the world.
The results of 16th Lok Sabha polls would be out within a few hours after the readers have gone through the morning papers.
In the meantime, exit polls and surveys predict that the BJP-led alliance NDA would be coming to power with Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister of India. The polls also show a dismal performance by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
However, no matter what the pollsters might say, Indian elections have always been extremely difficult to predict.
These elections have been different on many counts. This was an election where no issues or ideologies came up for any serious debate. It was all about personal attacks and mud-slinging; road shows aided by huge amounts of money spent on television advertisements and hoardings.
It was all a “Modi wave” sweeping through the country with, as many allege, millions of rupees pumped in by the big corporates.
The BJP/RSS exit polls give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 226 seats. Together with others in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the BJP allies, the number would shoot up to 259.
Sujit Sanyal, a brand communications consultant and analyst from Kolkata, said looking at the trend it should not bother BJP as some regional parties had already been trying to warm up.
BBC World Service Radio veteran Sagar Chowdhury, who is now settled in the City of Joy, rubbished the exit polls and said firmly that these had never been very reliable and never would be.
He still believed that there would be “dramatic revelations” on the result day and frantic horse-trading would start soon thereafter.
Debashish Roy Chowdhury, a businessman from Kolkata, said because of the party’s Hindutva stand, BJP would not get many Muslim vote, but the party might get a couple of seats in West Bengal.
Sanyal also thinks that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be pulling a lot of anti-incumbency votes and even if these do not translate into seats, it will surely help them to get the vote percentage at a countrywide level to be recognised as a National Party.
Although the multi-phased election in India went through quite peacefully and without major incidents, the same cannot be said about the state of West Bengal.
Sanyal thinks that the events in West Bengal during the polls clearly show that Trinamool Congess’ hold is slipping. Mamata Banerjee was never in governance and she will get into further mess due to the Sarada scam.
Her ambition to be a figure to reckon at the national stage may also be slipping, although her high-handedness may yield results and her party could bag as many as 26 seats. The opposition is also stronger this time in West Bengal due to BJP’s positive status.
Sharply criticising the polls violence in West Bengal, Sagar Chowdhury said Trinamool Congress achieved this notoriety in just three years that took the Left Front 34 years.
According to the Kolkatans, Modi ruled Gujarat surrounded by technocrats, ministers and advisers, who all promoted Hindutva. But, in India, there are about 115 million Muslims - the third largest in the world – and Modi would be the Prime Minister for all the citizens, a fact he would do well to remember.
They say, he should shun his “divide and rule” theory that he promulgated in Gujarat.
All in all, a stable government is the yearning, and after a “disastrous” UPA second term, nobody wants any spell of instability.
