An Indian election is a marathon, not a sprint. Voting will start on April 7, but the voting will move around the country in nine phases, ending on May 12. Then the votes will all be counted — there are 814 million eligible voters — and the result will be known on May 16.
A lot of people think they know the result now: Narendra Modi of the BJP will be prime minister, and India will swing right.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party) is a socially conservative, Hindu nationalist party that has had only one full term in national office, in 1998-2004. That time, it led a broad coalition that restrained its more extreme sectarian impulses. This time, however, many Indian observers claim to detect a "Modi wave" of support that might carry the BJP into power on its own. That would certainly make for interesting times.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.