It has been a bitter contest, repeatedly described by analysts as "historic" and "presidential" in nature. "We have had nasty campaigns before with sharp words exchanged but it has not reached the same level of vitriol," said Siddarth Varadarajan, a political commentator.
The BJP is led by the controversial Narendra Modi. The 63-year-old has played down his party`s traditional commitment to religious and cultural revivalism in favour of stressing development, jobs and honest government. Repeated surveys have shown that this is what Indians want, and that many of them clearly believe it is what Modi, who has earned a reputation as an effective if authoritarian administrator, can provide. "The country needed a change and now is the time for this change to come in," Vinod Kumar Prajapati, a 42-year-old shopkeeper in the town of Ballia in the huge northern state of Uttar Pradesh, told the Guardian. "The Congress has done nothing in the last 10 years – people did give Congress a chance but they have only done corruption. We need development."
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