Neither of India's main parties is very powerful, and the new government will be a coalition.

Here you see the three main candidates to be India's prime minister. At the top is current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress party. His main opposition is Lal Krishna Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A third-party candidate is Mayawati, a leader from a group of very poor rural Indians. While the two main parties still hold much of the power, over the last 20 years, hundreds of smaller local political parties have sprung up. What do you think our country would be like if we had more than 1,000 political parties? Do you think our two-party system gives us enough choice?

The many new parties have given more political power to many poor Indians from rural areas. But it has also left the two major parties weaker. Observers say that neither party has a very clear political "message" and that many voters don't feel strongly in favor of either party. How does this differ from the last election in our own country? Neither party is expected to win a majority in their congress. The government will probably be a coalition, that is, a group of different parties working together.

The new government will face some serious issues. India must find a way to deal with the increasing violence rooted in Pakistan. Plus, despite India's economic growth, the majority of Indians still live in extreme poverty. What issue do you think the new government should tackle first? What else do you know about India?