Related News
First round of Indian elections
Source: Agencies |
April 16, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THOUSANDS of troops fanned out across parts of India yesterday, ahead of today's elections to determine who will lead the country as the global economic slump threatens to undo two decades of growth.
Today's voting is the first of five phases that will span a month. Some 714 million people are eligible to cast ballots.
Opinion polls indicate that neither the ruling Congress party nor the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, will win enough seats in the 543-seat lower house of Parliament to rule on its own.
Whoever gets the most votes will likely have to cobble together a coalition out of dozens of smaller parties, many focused on single, regional issues.
Thousands of police and paramilitary troops were deployed yesterday across the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, which will vote for both national and state-level representatives.
"We have taken every necessary measure to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections. Now you go out and vote," state Director General of Police A.K. Mohanty said in the state capital, Hyderabad.
Results from the massive elections, which will use more than 1.3 million electronic voting machines in 828,804 polling stations, are expected May 16.
Today's voting is the first of five phases that will span a month. Some 714 million people are eligible to cast ballots.
Opinion polls indicate that neither the ruling Congress party nor the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, will win enough seats in the 543-seat lower house of Parliament to rule on its own.
Whoever gets the most votes will likely have to cobble together a coalition out of dozens of smaller parties, many focused on single, regional issues.
Thousands of police and paramilitary troops were deployed yesterday across the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, which will vote for both national and state-level representatives.
"We have taken every necessary measure to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections. Now you go out and vote," state Director General of Police A.K. Mohanty said in the state capital, Hyderabad.
Results from the massive elections, which will use more than 1.3 million electronic voting machines in 828,804 polling stations, are expected May 16.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
