Otton said though there was a “dip” in foreign interest in the Indian elections due to “length of the whole process”, the interest has now gathered momentum ahead of the “grand finale” in Varanasi.
Nilanjana Bhowmick, Time magazine's South Asia Correspondent, thinks the fight here has symbolised the “sentient centre” of the Indian elections.
“On one hand there is the formidable Modi, whose win most thought was pretty much assured, whom a neophyte like Kejriwal has dared to take on.
It's a political battle no doubt, but it is a battle of ideas too, and a pointer to the future trajectory of India,” she said.
Though Congress has fielded Ajay Rai, a Varanasi local and the MLA from Pindra assembly constituency, most of the foreign correspondents say the main fight will be between Modi and Kejriwal who have been running a high-pitched campaign for the May 12 election.
