Main Parties Vie for Support After Vote

The top finishers in parliamentary elections sought to woo small regional parties and independents in a bid to form the next government. With no single party winning a majority in the 545-member lower house, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the centrist Congress Party and the United Front coalition held strategy sessions. The BJP and its allies won 251 seats, Congress and its allies took 166, and the United Front got 96 after counting ended for all but nine of the 543 contested seats. That leaves 21 seats to independents and others who could be persuaded to join one of the three blocs.