INDIA: Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee said yesterday he was confident of victory as he cast his vote in India's staggered election, but exit polls showed his coalition struggling to get a majority.
Television stations predicted Mr Vajpayee's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies would win between 245 and 282 seats in the 545-seat parliament, after exit polls from the fourth phase of the five-stage vote.
Yesterday's voting was concentrated in the northern Hindi heartland or "cow belt", a BJP stronghold. The final stage takes place on May 10th, with results expected on May 13th.
Mr Vajpayee called the election six months early, hoping to cash in on his personal popularity, a strong economy, improving ties with old foe Pakistan and a bumper harvest after a good monsoon.
But his "India Shining" campaign has failed to resonate with the millions of impoverished rural Indians, catching the BJP off guard and worrying the country's financial markets.
Investors have followed every twist and turn of the exit polls as fears mounted that a new government might move slowly on key economic reforms if forced to haggle with minor parties for support.
Mr Vajpayee (79) asked for a strong mandate for a new five-year term as he voted in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, the nation's most populous and politically pivotal state.
Asked if his coalition would retain its majority, Mr Vajpayee smiled and said: "Yes. I am confident." But exit polls, which have a mixed record in India, pointed towards the possibility of a hung parliament.
Four of the five polls yesterday showed the BJP and its allies falling just short of a majority, with NDTV predicting they would win between 245 and 265 seats. At the other end of the spectrum, Star News projected 270 to 282 seats.
There is little doubt the BJP will emerge the largest party in the new parliament and the front-runner to form the next government. The better they do, the stronger the coalition that is likely to emerge, analysts said.
"Anything above 250 [for the BJP and its allies] and they are home and dry," said columnist Prem Shankar Jha.