November 25, 1998
Web posted at: 9:27 a.m. EST (1427 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Millions of Indians voted Wednesday in state elections that could cast shadows on the fortunes of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's wobbly coalition.

The ballot count begins Saturday, but an exit poll predicted a sweeping victory for the Congress Party, led by Sonia Gandhi, in the state of New Delhi, which would dislodge the state government of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.

More than 80 million voters were eligible to choose 626 state legislators from among 5,000 candidates in the northern state of New Delhi where the federal capital is located, in Rajasthan in India's western desert, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh and in the tiny northeastern state of Mizoram -- four of India's 26 states.

Pre-election surveys predicted gains by the Congress Party over the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, mainly because of discontent with soaring prices of vegetables, increasing crime, frequent water and power shortages and bad roads.

The BJP controls Delhi and Rajasthan while the Congress party holds Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.

Voting was largely peaceful but some violence was reported in Madhya Pradesh state. Tens of thousands of armed police guarded voting stations in four states where borders were sealed to prevent the entry of criminals from other states.

Vajpayee has said that, even if his party loses all the states, there would be no threat to his government as the Congress is in no position to muster the required numbers of parliamentary deputies to form an alternative government.

He says that the composition and character of the current 545-member Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, was such that there was little need for realignment of political forces.

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Gandhi has said Vajpayee's government has no right to stay in office as it has been reduced to a state "of utter helplessness" in the face of mounting problems.

The Hindu nationalists came to power in March after emerging as the most powerful force in parliament following inconclusive national elections.

But the period since then has been difficult for the ruling coalition with restive allies. The political agenda has been dominated by ramifications of the nuclear tests held in May and soaring inflation.

New Delhi Bureau Chief Anita Pratap, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.