Shifting ties keep Indian race open

India’s bookmakers have Manmohan Singh, the ruling Congress party prime minister, riding home as the odds-on favourite for the post again when legislative election tallies are released on May 16.

Leaders of the newly formed Third Front alliance, which threatens the ambitions of the country’s two most powerful parties

L.K. Advani, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, trails with odds of five to one, Sharad Pawar, a Congress ally from Maharashtra, is at eight to one, while Kumari Mayawati, the fiery champion of the lower castes in Uttar Pradesh, is at 25 to one.