London, May 6
Britons today voted in what is billed as the most tightly-contested general election since the World War II which could lead to a hung Parliament, though latest opinion polls gave a clear edge to opposition Tories over the ruling Labour as well as Liberal Democrats.

The polls will also decide the fate of a record 89 Asian origin candidates, including those from India. The Conservative Party, which is eyeing to capture power, has fielded 30 members from the community.

Prominent among them are Keith Vaz, who has represented Leicester East for Labour for the last 23 years, and his sister Valerie Vaz, a lawyer, who is contesting on a Labour ticket from Walsall South.

Polling stations opened at 7 am local time and the voters have until 10 pm to exercise their franchise, and moderate polling was recorded in most of the 649 constituencies till evening.

Over 44 million people were registered to vote for nearly 4,150 candidates in 649 constituencies. Polling in one constituency, Thirsk and Malton, has been delayed until May 27 because of the death of one of the candidates during the campaign.

First results are expected at 11 pm local time. The vast majority of constituencies will count votes and declare results overnight.

As the polling began, police commenced a probe into alleged fraudulent postal voting and false registration of voters’ addresses.

As well as chosing MPs for the House of Commons, voters will also elect councillors in 164 local authorities across England.

A record 89 Asian origin candidates are in the fray including 30 from the Conservative party. In the 2005 elections, there were 68 such candidates and the highest number of ethnic minority MPs, 15, were declared elected.

In the current elections, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have nominated a record 22 women of South Asian descent.

There has been no Asian woman MP till now and last parliament had 15 Asian and Black MPs, all male.

A string of eve-of-election opinion polls gave David Cameron’s Conservatives a clear lead over Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

But they still suggest the Tories may not reach the level of support they need to claim an overall majority in the 650-member House of Commons. Cameron is likely to form a coalition government with MPs from Northern Ireland.

The result is the most uncertain in any election since 1992 and there is the first real prospect of a hung Parliament in almost 30 years.

According to the last polls of the campaign, Cameron is within touching distance of a Commons majority with the Tories set to make massive gains from Labour. — PTI

London, May 6
If you are an Indian citizen used to the heat and dust, loud sloganeering and the cut and thrust of Indian politics, a general election in the United Kingdom can be an unreal experience.

You don't have to be a British citizen to vote here. Britain has a unique rule that allows citizens from all Commonwealth countries residing here to vote.

Thus, I, like thousands of migrants, professionals and students who hold Indian passports, cast my vote along with over 44 million voters to elect 649 MPs in the House of Commons.

At the polling booth, unlike in India, there was no queue or noise. There were two elderly women officials quietly waiting for voters to turn up.

I was the only voter at the time and could see one person leaving the booth after polling. There were no leaflets, no policemen, no agents of candidates.

A retired IAS official from Madhya Pradesh, who has been an observer in many elections in India, and was on a visit here, was struck by contrast with elections in India.

The two officials were happily chatting away and confirmed that the turnout had been low so far, but hoped more voters would turn up after office hours.

By all accounts, this is the most tightly contested election since the Second World War, but the contest is mostly at the level of ideas, policies and past record.

Compared with India, the level of debate and the sheer scale of the electoral exercise is different. Numbers of voters in constituencies are in the thousands and many MPs win or lose by a margin of a few hundred votes.

Campaigning has been very quiet by Indian standards, as actor Sanjay Dutt remarked when he came along to canvass votes for Labour candidate Keith Vaz in Leicester. For Dutt, who has been in the thick of Samajwadi Party politics in Lucknow, campaigning here was an eye-opener. — PTI

Kathmandu, May 6
Street violence erupted in the Nepalese capital and outlying districts today as public anger grew over an indefinite strike by the Maoists that has shut down the country for the past five days, with residents clashing with the former rebels.

Two people were reported killed as locals defying the Maoists cadres attempted to open their commercial establishments, attend offices and send their children to schools, triggering clashes with the former rebels in which cars were torched and building damaged.

As political crisis deepened in the county over Maoists demands for a change in government, the party strongman Prachanda met Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood.

The meeting in the wake of efforts being made by ruling coalition government to diffuse the crisis by feelers to the Maoists came at a time when main Opposition has stepped up anti-India rhetoric.

The Maoists did not disclose the details of the meeting at Prachanda’s residence at Nayabazaar in the Capital.

The police said a number of clashes took place between the anti-Maoists demonstrators and Maoists supporters and at places teargas shells were burst and baton charge resorted to separate the warring groups.

BRIEFLY

Jonathan is Nigeria Prez
ABUJA: Goodluck Jonathan was on Thursday sworn in as the new President of Nigeria, marking the country’s first peaceful transition of power, following the death of the nation’s elected leader Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Yar’Adua (58), who long had suffered from kidney ailment and was recently hospitalised in Saudi Arabia because of heart inflammation, died on Wednesday. He is survived by his aged mother, wife Turai Yar’Adua and nine children. — PTI

Tornado kills 38 in China
BEIJING: At least 38 persons were killed and more than 190 injured when a tornado coupled with hailstorm and heavy rains hit southwestern China on Thursday, damaging thousands of homes and destroying crops. Liangping and Dianjiang counties and Fuling district were among the hardest-hit. — PTI