On Sunday, for the first time for several weeks, the million and a half voters in the Indian parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, the holy city on the Ganges, were left alone. For weeks, they had been canvassed, rallied, bombarded with texts, tweets and Facebook posts, subjected to front-page advertisements and giant billboards of politicians' grim or grinning portraits.
On Monday they voted in the final phase of this protracted, historic and inspiring Indian election.
The winner is likely to be Narendra Modi, who is happy to be described as a Hindu nationalist. The 63-year-old politician has called for a strong India which will not be pushed around on the international stage. He promises an end to the "false secularism" that has favored "particular communities", such as India's 150 million Muslims.
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