THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: NEW DELHI -- The India National Congress party and its allies appeared heading to a comfortable victory in India's national elections, with opposition parties conceding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be in a position to form the next government.
Congress and its allies were far ahead in vote tallies and projections by a range of Indian news channels. Full results are expected in a few hours. The prospect of a return of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, which has ruled the country through an economic boom in the past five years, raised the likelihood that India would see a stable coalition government. That has been of crucial importance to companies and investors who are grappling with the impact of the global recession on the world's largest democracy. While India's economy has held up better than most, with growth projected at around 6% this year, it nonetheless has seen a downturn in several important sectors and mass layoffs in industries such as textile and diamond cutting.
The size of the UPA's expected victory was a major surprise. Exit polls from the voting, which has taken place since April 16, pointed to a close race between Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the National Democratic Alliance. >>> By Paul Beckett | Saturday, May 16, 2009
