Congress emerge victorious in Indian elections

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared victory in India's national elections last night, saying voters had given the Congress party-led coalition a "massive mandate."

Singh spoke as results indicated his alliance had achieved a sweeping - and surprising - success in the monthlong polls that will keep Singh in power for another term.

"I express my deep sense of gratitude to the people of the country for the massive mandate they have given the alliance," he said.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the country's other main party, failed to convince voters to change the national leadership during a time of economic uncertainty and regional instability.

"We accept the people's verdict," said Arun Jaitley, a senior BJP official. "Certainly something did go wrong."

News channels called the election in Congress' favor based on more than 70 per cent of votes counted.

The CNN-IBN channel said the Congress-led alliance could win 258 seats in the 543-seat Parliament, and the BJP-led alliance could take 162. It projected that the Congress party alone - without the support of its coalition allies - would take 198 seats, putting it far ahead of all other parties.

Other channels predicted similar results in the massive vote - the largest in the democratic world - which for logistical and security reasons was held in five phases between April 16 and May 13.

If counting trends continue the same direction, it would be a clear victory for the Congress coalition - but would still leave it short of the 272 seats needed to govern alone and it would require the support of other parties. India has been ruled by coalition governments for most of the last two decades.

However, the results appeared far better for Congress than nearly everyone expected. The "Third Front," an alliance of communist, regional and caste-based parties that had banded together, appeared to have done poorly. Most news stations predicted they would win less than 80 seats.