India decides: Vote counting underway in world’s biggest election

INDIA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to clinch a rare third consecutive term when results from the world’s biggest election are announced today.

Modi is aiming to win a 400-seat supermajority in the 543-seat lower house of parliament.

All 642 million votes cast during six weeks of mammoth polls that ended June 1 will be counted today. The count comes as India swelters under an extreme heat wave that has killed dozens of people.

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India has inched closer toward superpower status under a decade of rule by Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, but has also become increasingly polarized along religious lines.

The election result will reverberate far beyond India’s borders, given the country’s strategic position in Asia and its booming economy.