NEW DELHI — Voting in the world's most populous democracy kicks off today, featuring hundreds of political parties, aging leaders and a colorful cast of Bollywood and cricket stars offering themselves up for the yea or nay of the masses.
An estimated 714 million people -- more than twice the population of the United States -- are eligible to vote in India's monthlong, rolling election.
Electoral districts have been recast for the first time in almost two decades, giving somewhat greater weight to urban voters. And more young people are expected to cast their ballots than ever before, part of a demographic surge that has India poised to overtake China in coming years as the nation with the largest population.
But mostly the election is about good old-fashioned horse-trading, backroom deals and vote buying, with very little in the way of a definitive result for weeks to come.
Neither of the two main rivals -- the ruling Congress Party, which has led the country for the last five years and most of the last six decades, and the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP -- are expected to win enough seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament to rule outright.
As a consequence, the results in mid-May will probably mark the start of new haggling as coalition partners flirt, play hard to get and secure dowry promises in search of a majority.
"It will be a coalition government again, but we don't know what the cocktail is going to be," said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research. "In the past 10 years, there was at least one party with a clear lead. If that doesn't happen, things will be even messier."
Pollsters give the Congress Party a modest edge in an election that has seen few national issues. The ruling party probably would have campaigned on its record of 8% annual economic growth in recent years if the recent global downturn hadn't slowed the economy. The government also has come under criticism for its handling of the terrorist attack in Mumbai in late November, which killed more than 170 people.
The BJP, meanwhile, has suffered from fractured leadership. And its mainstay issues of anti-terrorism, Hindu nationalism and Hindu-Muslim distrust have failed to excite as many voters this time.
That's left some fretting that mainstream politicians are ignoring voters' real concerns: security, jobs and the rising price of chapatis and curry.
