India's ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) forged ahead today in the race for power in the world's largest democracy, taking early leads in 159 of the 346 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Congress-led UPA appeared to be performing a shade better than predicted by exit polls, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead in 107 seats. The Lok Sabha has 545 seats.