India’s mammoth parliamentary elections came to an end on Saturday after more than six weeks of voting across the country.
The last polls in the world’s most populous democracy closed at 6pm (1230 GMT), with results not expected until June 4.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is favored for a third five-year term, with his nationalist BJP party hoping to expand its parliamentary majority.
The 73-year-old would be the first Indian leader to win a third term since inaugural Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s.
In the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, more than 500 seats were up for grabs, with at least 8,000 candidates.
About 970 million voters were eligible to participate in the elections, which were held in several phases at more than 1 million polling stations from mid-April.
Modi remains popular in India, and the campaign of the BJP – which translates as Indian People’s Party – focused heavily on his personality and charisma.
The political opposition is relatively weak and divided. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party, which once dominated Indian politics after independence from Britain in 1947, now controls just three of India’s 28 states.
Under Modi, India has become the world’s fifth-largest economic power and is also playing an increasingly important political role as a counterweight to China.
Modi has invested heavily in modern infrastructure projects, but economic growth has not been evenly distributed.
Unemployment remains high and poverty is widespread, with many struggling to meet basic needs. According to the World Bank, gross domestic product per capita is about $2,000 per year.
