India's Congress faces a rout in states, exit polls forecast

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Voters may have handed India's ruling Congress party a crushing defeat in four states in the heartland while ending its majority in a remote northeastern state, exit polls showed on Wednesday, in a final test of popularity before the 2014 national election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party led by the business-friendly prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the biggest gainer in the election, the polls said, lifting Indian shares to a one-month high and the rupee to its strongest level in five weeks.