New Delhi: Long and winding elections to Lok Sabha finally ended on Wednesday, but roughly half of the 71.4 crore registered electors participated in this democratic exercise that is widely expected to deliver a hung house.
The Congress-led UPA is looking for a new term in office while the NDA steered by the BJP is trying to end its term in the Opposition, although it isn't clear if one of them would on their own be able to muster the 272 seats needed to stake claim for power.
Politicians were fierce verbally during campaigning, but the elections itself were bloody with Naxalites attacking polling and security personnel in the first two rounds leaving over 20 dead.
One person was killed and several hurt in clashes in Tamil Nadu, while another was killed in a clash between Trinamool Congress and CPM activists outside Kolkata before polling began.
Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sajjad Gani Lone of People's Conference, BJP's Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were also among the big names in this round that saw a total of 1,432 candidates jumping into the fray.
Uttar Pradesh, which returns the highest number of MPs (80), and Jammu and Kashmir were the only two states to go to polls in all the five phases.
The Congress-led UPA is looking for a new term in office while the NDA steered by the BJP is trying to end its term in the Opposition, although it isn't clear if one of them would on their own be able to muster the 272 seats needed to stake claim for power.
Politicians were fierce verbally during campaigning, but the elections itself were bloody with Naxalites attacking polling and security personnel in the first two rounds leaving over 20 dead.
One person was killed and several hurt in clashes in Tamil Nadu, while another was killed in a clash between Trinamool Congress and CPM activists outside Kolkata before polling began.
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Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sajjad Gani Lone of People's Conference, BJP's Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were also among the big names in this round that saw a total of 1,432 candidates jumping into the fray.
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Uttar Pradesh, which returns the highest number of MPs (80), and Jammu and Kashmir were the only two states to go to polls in all the five phases.
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