Election fever hits India

Colourful campaigns and rallies as race for votes heats up

- Sam Stevenson

INDIA'S general election is nearing its climax after weeks of huge rallies and colourful campaigning.

Thousands of people have hit the streets to cheer on the candidates, with the leading parties having spent an incredible £11.4billion on campaigning.

Excited voters have staged motorcycle parades and created giant flags and banners as the country is gripped by election fever in stark contrast to anything ever seen in the UK.

And the race for the premiership is reaching boiling point. Voting phase four out of seven ends this week, meaning 70% of all seats in the nation's Lok Sabha will have been decided by Monday.

Incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running for a third consecutive term. Recent opinion polls suggest his Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will win the election. The main challenge comes from a coalition of political parties headed by the Indian National Congress.