India’s marathon election reaches finish line

The election result is expected on Thursday.

A Hindu holy man displays the indelible ink mark on his finger after casting his vote (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP)

By Associated Press Reporters

Voting in India’s national election has ended, with exit polls predicting prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its allies will win the right to govern for another five years.

Vote counting following the seventh and final phase of a gruelling poll that lasted more than five weeks will begin on Thursday, with the election result expected to be known the same day.