KOLKATA, India - Indians are voting in the seventh and final phase of national elections, wrapping up a 6-week-long long, grueling campaign season with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party seeking reelection for another five years. The voting on Sunday also covers Modi’s constituency of Varanasi, a holy Hindu city where he was elected in 2014. He spent Saturday night at Kedarnath, a temple of Hindu god Shiva nestled in the Himalayas in northern India. He has adopted a nationalist pitch in trying to win votes from the country’s Hindu majority by projecting a tough stance against Pakistan, India’s Muslim-majority neighbour and archrival. The BJP, which won a majority of 282 seats in 2014, may need some regional parties as allies to stay in power.

Source: thestar May 19, 2019 02:09 UTC