Voting for India's 7-phase election ends, early exit polls show Modi set for another big win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party is set to win a comfortable majority in India's election for the third time in a row, several early exit polls showed, extending his decade in power atop the world's fastest-growing major economy.

The polls showed his Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will win well more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in India's 543-seat lower house of parliament. More exit polls are set to be released throughout the evening on Saturday, and actual votes will be counted on June 4.

If the early trends continue, the results would give a boost to Indian financial markets, which had been volatile in recent weeks amid concern that low turnout figures and Modi's sharpened rhetoric indicated his party might struggle to win an outright majority as had been predicted for months. While exit polls in India are sometimes unreliable, they have largely predicted the overall outcome in the past three elections.

The polls were released after the last of India's nearly 1 billion registered voters finished casting their ballots in a grueling six-week-long election that was spread over seven voting phases. It started on April 19.

The BJP's strategy of centering its campaign around the hugely-popular Modi appears to have paid off if the exit polls are accurate. The party's star campaigner, Modi criss-crossed the country holding roadshows and addressing large crowds. The party even titled its manifesto 'Modi's Guarantee.'

A win for Modi would be historic: no prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru — who ruled India for 17 years after independence — has managed to secure three consecutive terms in power.

The win also signals additional trouble for the country's opposition, especially the Indian National Congress, the largest party in the opposition alliance. Failure to dent the BJP's mandate for a third straight national election fuels concerns that the Congress party needs an ideological revamp or a change in leadership.

A bigger win for the ruling party positions it to potentially push through decisive new measures and further elevate Modi's global stature. It also would pave the way for the BJP to make good on major campaign promises like increased infrastructure spending, investing in domestic manufacturing and the continuation of popular welfare programs.