NEW DELHI, May 13 : The curtains came down on the staggered Lok Sabha elections Wednesday with millions of Indians voting peacefully in the fifth and last round covering 86 constituencies, and the first exit polls putting the Congress-led coalition on top of a fractured verdict.

Even as both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed they would finish as the number one, an India TV exit poll telecast after balloting ended said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could end up with 195-201 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha.

This tally could go up to 227-237 if the seats bagged by estranged allies such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party were to be included. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was tipped to bag 189-195 seats and the Third Front 113-121 seats, it said.

But political leaders and analysts kept their fingers tightly crossed, with the expected cliffhanger verdict forcing both the Congress and BJP -- the two main contenders for power -- desperately scouting for new allies. As the voting progressed, some parties switched loyalties, making it one of the most difficult electoral battles to predict.

"It seems to be a very complex political situation. It is the complexity that makes it difficult to make any predictions," Kerala-based political analyst N.P. Chekutty told IANS, reflecting an opinion widely held in the world's largest democracy.

Election officials estimated that some 55 percent of the 714 million electorate - which is more than the combined population of Russia and the US - had voted over five phases starting April 16. The result will be known Saturday.

Wednesday's polling was overwhelmingly peaceful but for the murder of a political worker in Tamil Nadu and clashes in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two key states whose outcome will have a bearing on government formation in New Delhi.

The exercise involved all 39 seats of Tamil Nadu, all four seats of Himachal Pradesh and all five seats of Uttarakhand besides two in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Punjab, 11 in West Bengal and 14 in Uttar Pradesh besides one each in Chandigarh and Pondicherry.

The most notable of the 1,432 candidates included Home Minister P. Chidambaram of the Congress (Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu) and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee (South Kolkata).

Fearing uncertain times, Indian markets turned edgy Wednesday, with a key index losing 138 points from its last closing figure at end of trade. The 30-scrip sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened at 12,201.93 points and fell 138.38 points or 1.14 percent from Tuesday's close.

"I'm fully confident that a BJP-led government will be formed at the centre. We will get new partners (after the polls)," BJP president Rajnath Singh said confidently. Within hours, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh asserted that his party would occupy the number one slot.

Not to be left behind, the Third Front - made up of the Communists and regional parties - announced they would meet in New Delhi Monday to decide the future course of action. The meeting would be attended by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is widely expected to win around 40 seats, said Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and a key mover behind the Third Front.

With neither the UPA nor NDA expected to cross the magic figure of 272 in the Lok Sabha, the Congress and BJP tried to outsmart one another in order to woo leaders of smaller and regional parties.

AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha, a key Third Front partner, said in Chennai: "There are feelers from many places. I am not responding to them now. Everything depends on the results. If the results are as expected, then I will go to Delhi."

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who in 2004 pulled off a coup by most unexpectedly worsting the BJP-led alliance in general elections, Wednesday telephoned estranged ally Ram Vilas Paswan after a fire in his house which adjoins her own in the heart of New Delhi.

Elections to the 15th Lok Sabha got off to a violent start April 16 leaving 19 people dead in coordinated attacks by Maoist guerrillas during the first round of balloting. The rest of the polling days were, however, largely peaceful.

Patna, May 02: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday claimed that the Congress party has no existence in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Criticising the All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Gulam Nabi Azad in a press conference here for his recent statement that aligning with regional parties in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was a "big mistake" by Congress and it will not repeat it in future, Lalu said, "RJD is a national party and all should know that. The Congress virtually has no existence in the two states."

On Friday, Gulam Nabi Azad, while talking to the reporters here had said, "Congress should have tried to stand on its own in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar much earlier... There has been delay in severing the ties and we apologise from the people for the mistake (forging an alliance with regional parties)... The party will not be left to the mercy of regional parties."

Predicting that no single party would be able to form a government after the Lok Sabha polls, Lalu once again reached out to the Left, saying the door for them was always open.

"The era of coalition governments is here to stay for long and we want the Left and secular forces to come together. The door for the Left is always open, " he said.

Commenting on Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury's statement that the Left was not averse to aligning with even the Janata Dal (United) after the polls, Lalu asked, "Do you (the mediapersons) think that the Left will join forces with the communal parties."

"Nitish Kumar (Bihar Chief Minister) is sitting in the lap of communal BJP. The Left will never allow the communal forces to come to power." He asserted.

Patna/New Delhi, April 7 : Railways Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, who faces arrest for his threatening remarks against young Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi at an election rally in Bihar, said Tuesday he was speaking only against “fascist forces”.

The RJD chief, in Kishanganj, 350 km from the Bihar capital, Monday said had he been the home minister he would have run a “roller” over Varun Gandhi for his hate speeches against Muslims.

“If I were the country’s home minister, and if Varun had said this (inflammatory speeches), then I would have run a roller over his chest and thought about the consequences later.”

Lalu Prasad clarified to NDTV that he had not named anyone. “What I meant to say that as far as I am concerned, I would not have spared fascist forces” and taken stern action if they divided the country on communal lines.

His ally in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan said: “His (Lalu Prasad’s) remarks were not personally against anyone. He said whoever made such speeches would have been dealt with strongly.”

The Kishanganj district Superintendent of Police Ram Narayan Singh ordered the arrest of Lalu Prasad on the basis of a complaint filed against him at the police station in the morning.

Union Home Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram, however, made light of Lalu Prasad’s remarks. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, the home minister said: “These statements should not be taken literally.” The Congress and RJD are part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the RJD chief on the directive of the district administration.

The ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) criticised the comments.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that Lalu Prasad’s remarks were nothing but a move to create trouble in a peaceful state like Bihar.

Similarly, Sudheendra Kulkarni, an advisor to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, said the railways minister’s remarks were “nothing else but hate speech”. The BJP and JD-U are partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Speaking in a TV discussion, Kulkarni said though Varun Gandhi had disputed the CD containing his inflammatory remarks, the BJP had dissociated itself from his reported speeches.

Varun Gandhi is in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah jail for his reported inflammatory speeches targeting Muslims.

New Delhi, Mar 25 : Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday clarified that he had “no fight” with the Congress Party or with party President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In an interview with NDTV, Lalu said, “I am not a quiet kind of person. I don”t attack people quietly. My advice to the Congress is that its people should continue to sleep comfortably… we (RJD and LJP) will win and form the UPA Government.”

Lalu’’s comments came days after the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the RJD had unilaterally announced a seat sharing arrangement between the two parties in Bihar.

Out of the 40 seats, the RJD kept 25 seats and the LJP took 12 seats. The remaining three seats were left for the Congress.

This move angered the Congress, which termed the announcement unacceptable.

Justifying his deal with LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Lalu said, “I and Paswan were ready to talk about an extra seat in Bihar. But nobody in the Congress responded.”

“It was the call of the time for Ram Vilas Paswan’’s party, LJP, and RJD (to come together). Our unity would let us sweep all of Bihar,” he said.

When asked if he had opened channels with Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav is not my enemy. In earlier days, we fought during Assembly Elections and the vote got divided. The result was not good.”

Asked if he is worried that the Congress will join hands with Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United JD(U) after elections, Lau promptly replied, “Let them join hands. Right now, Nitish Kumar is sitting in the lap of BJP.

When that is broken, then it is an advantage to me. Let anyone join anyone

On being questioned about the culprit of the UPA breakdown in the state, he said, “Sonia Gandhiji is nowhere at fault. The honorable Manmohan Singh ji is nowhere at fault.”

“We are towards Soniaji, all our lives, as long as we live,” he said.

His statement came after Congress announced to contest 37 seats in Bihar.

“If Congress is so strong, why were they demanding more seats from us? Instead, we should have demanded the seats from them,” Lalu said.

He, however, said that his party was still a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

“LJP and the RJD are in the UPA in Bihar. Congress alone is not UPA,” he added.

Prasad ruled out any chance of his joining Third Front.

“I, Paswan and the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will bring a good number of seats for the UPA to form the next government,” he added.

Prasad also informed that he would go to Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Mulayam Singh.

“The government will be formed only when we come with good strength after the election. I will go to Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Mulayam Singh and he will also visit Bihar for the same,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Congress decided to go alone in the state and announced a list of 37 candidates for the upcoming general elections.

“Congress has decided to contest on 37 seats in Bihar. Coalition dharma has been violated and we are upset with this. We have no alliance with Lalu as of now,” Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde said.

New Delhi, Mar 17 : Union Steel Minister and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said that the seat sharing among the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies—LJP, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for Bihar has been finalised and a formal announcement in this regard is likely to be made on Tuesday.


“The seat sharing for 40 Lok Sabha seats of Bihar has been finalised among the UPA allies. The alliance will happen cent per cent and announcement could be made tomorrow,” Paswan told reporters here.

When asked about his party’s earlier stand of contesting either 16 seats in alliance or going alone on all 40 seats of the state, Paswan said, “Some adjustments are made when talks happen.”

The final round of discussion among the three parties for seat sharing is likely to be discussed on Monday night.

UPA sources said that the meeting could get the LJP 11 to 12 seats, Congress five to six and the RJD 23 to 24 seats.

Paswan asserted that his party would win at least 10 seats this time.

UPA had won 29 Lok Sabha seats out of the 40 in Bihar in the last elections.

When asked about if he wanted to become the Prime Minister, Paswan said, “Yes I accept I want to become the PM. I am in politics and every politicians wants to become get the high post.”

Paswan, however, maintained that there is no vacancy for the post and said Manmohan Singh would be the UPA Government’s next PM.