Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi said today that more discussions were needed before she could form a new Indian government, and she came away from a meeting without the president naming her prime minister.

India’s stock market crashed today in one of the biggest falls in years, prompting regulators to suspend trading as investors remained wary about the economic policies of the incoming communist-supported government in New Delhi.

Sonia Gandhi has reportedly been confirmed as the new prime minister of India after her family’s Congress party won a stunning upset election victory.

The opposition Congress party and its allies scored unexpectedly strong gains in India’s Parliament elections as the nail-biting finale to the polls seemed to be heading for an upset.

India’s stock market recorded its biggest fall in four years today after the exit polls forecast the prime minister’s governing coalition would fail to get a majority in Parliament.

The Indian stock market went into freefall today after general election exit polls predicted a hung Parliament – which some feared could hurt the current agenda of economic liberalisation.

At least 44 people were killed today and 150 wounded when car bombs exploded at a crowded jewellery market and a historic landmark in Bombay.

At least 40 people were killed and 150 wounded when two bombs rocked a crowded market and a historical landmark today in India’s financial capital Bombay, police said.