Votes are being counted in India after the country’s mammoth general election.
During an intense six weeks of voting, millions of Indians took to the polls to decide if the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist Party will continue leading for another five years.
To onlookers, the election is seen as a referendum on Modi, who is adored by some Indians but blamed by others for perpetuating stark divisions within the country.
Whatever the result, this election was a historic one. Of India’s 1.3 billion population, around 900 million people are eligible to vote, a figure which represents around 10% of the world’s population.
Whoever wins will take charge of a fast-developing country with an economy on track to surpass the UK’s to become the world’s largest.
Here’s everything you need to know about the elections in India:
When does voting take place?
Voting commenced on April 11.
Indians were able to cast their votes at one of the 1 million polling booths positioned across the country.
Who is running?
Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be hoping for re-election.
Modi’s main opposition party is the Congress, led by Rahul Ghandi. His grandmother Indira was India’s first female leader and his grandfather Jawarhlal Nehru was the country’s founding leader. His father Rajiv Gandhi also served as PM.
How does India's electoral system work?
India’s parliament has two houses: the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
In this election, the Lok Sabha is the important one.
It has 543 elected seats and any party will need a minimum of 272 seats in order to form a government.
Whichever party wins the majority of seats gets to choose the PM.
Alternatively, a coalition can be formed if no one party wins a majority, as was the outcome of the 2004 elections.
When will we know the results?
Counting commenced at 08:00 local time (02:30GMT) on Thursday 23 May.
Results will be released in phases by the Election commission, but it could be an additional several hours before the final result is confirmed.
Who could win?
Modi is currently leading in over 330 of the 542 seats, setting him on a clear path to victory.
As early results were announced, India’s stock markets soared to record highs.
Meanwhile, the opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ran by the Indian National Congress (INC) alliance is leading in less than about 100 seats.
“Mr Modi’s going to be the next prime minister, we are very assured of that,” said Meenakshi Lekhi, a member of Parliament running for re-election in New Delhi.
Several polling agencies have reported a growth in public support for Modi following recent tensions with Pakistan after a military group based there killed 40 Indian policemen in Kashmir in February.
Indian polling agency CVoter said in a statement: “In today’s India we have seen perhaps for the first time security issues competing with, and outdoing, a bread and butter issue like unemployment.
“Primarily, the BJP has been unable to sufficiently distinguish itself from Congress when it comes to making people feel the difference in terms of their livelihoods and economic interests.
“However, when it comes to controlling and responding on terror the same set of respondents do feel a clear and visible difference.”
