NEW DELHI, 6 May 2004 — Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, flashing a victory sign, voted in his constituency yesterday in parliamentary elections, as early exit polls predicted he would be returned to office for another five years, with perhaps a less stable government.

The five-phase elections that began April 20 will end May 10. Early polls by independent TV stations in the seven states that voted in the fourth round yesterday indicated Vajpayee’s coalition of over a dozen parties may fall short of winning a majority of parliamentary seats. In that case, his National Democratic Alliance would have to draw more small parties into the coalition, making it more likely to fray.

Some of the country’s most violent regions cast ballots yesterday. Three deaths were reported by the time polls closed, but Deputy Election Commissioner A.N. Jha said voting was relatively peaceful.

Half of the 107 million eligible voters in the seven states participated, he said.

Vajpayee’s coalition was strongly favored ahead of the start of the three-week elections on the strength of a booming economy and peace overtures with rival Pakistan. But opinion and exit polls have since shown his coalition losing seats overall.

Early exit polls yesterday by independent Star News and Aaj Tak television — based on a half day of voting and the previous three phases — showed that trend continuing.

“I am not nervous” about exit polls, Vajpayee told reporters before voting in Lucknow. He later displayed the ink on his finger that proved he had voted and flashed a victory sign.

However, the general secretary of his Bharatiya Janata Party, Pramod Mahajan, acknowledged the governing coalition might not win enough seats to form a majority government. “We could take help from smaller political parties in case we fall short (by) a couple of seats,” Mahajan said.

Vajpayee, 79, was opposed in Lucknow by an old friend and former member of his Cabinet, Ram Jethmalani, 80, who questioned the prime minister’s mental and physical fitness to lead the nation of 1 billion, and objected to the pro-Hindu agenda of Vajpayee’s party.

The main opposition Congress party led by Italian-born Sonia Gandhi argues that the government’s prosperity drive has been limited to cities and hasn’t touched the lives of people in villages, where most Indians live.

In its exit poll, Star News projected Vajpayee’s coalition getting 270-282 of Parliament’s 543 elected seats, with 167-179 for Congress and 87-89 for smaller parties. Aaj Tak projected 266 votes for Vajpayee’s coalition and 175 for Congress and its allies, with smaller parties getting 102.

More than 270,000 troops were deployed to guard voting booths in the seven states —Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu-Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

There were demonstrations yesterday throughout the district that voted in Jammu-Kashmir, where separatists called for a poll boycott and threatened to kill anyone participating in the elections. One man was killed in a grenade explosion in Jammu-Kashmir and more than 20 people were injured in election-related violence.

In eastern Bihar state, two men were shot dead outside polling stations.

Election violence has killed 39 people since April 19, considerably below the 100 who died in 1999 elections. Ballot-counting for the elections begins on May 13.