India will hold a general election between April 16 and May 13, election officials said on Monday, kicking off a mammoth process in which 714 million people will be able to cast their votes.
Analysts and pollsters see no party emerging with a clear majority from the election, possibly leading to weeks or even months of political uncertainty as parties negotiate for power just as the once booming economy has been hit by a downturn.
The chief of the Election Commission, which runs elections in the world's largest democracy, said counting of ballots would take place on May 16.
The main battle will be between the Congress-led coalition and the leading opposition bloc, headed by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Congress, led by India's most powerful leader Sonia Gandhi, has said it would nominate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the top job while L.K. Advani is the BJP-led bloc's prime ministerial candidate.
Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami told reporters voting would be held in five phases.
"The process of finalising the election schedule takes into account the school examinations ... the local holidays ... festivals, the harvest season and so on," he said.
The staggered voting is to allow security forces to move around the country to curb any attempt to coerce an electorate more than twice the population of the United States.
Source : reuters
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