The Indian lawmakers being guarded in 'secret locations'

India's Supreme Court has intervened after an election in the southern state of Karnataka led to a political crisis.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the most seats in the recently concluded poll, rushed to swear in a chief minister although it did not have the numbers for a majority.

This led to a stand-off with two opposition parties who cobbled together an alliance that gave them the numbers.

The state governor had allowed the BJP 15 days to prove their majority.

But amid massive outcry, the Supreme Court overruled him, and reduced the 15-day window to 24 hours. The BJP now have until 1600 (1030 GMT) on Saturday to try and win over eight members from the opposition alliance to form the government.

The opposition parties have responded by hiding away their newly-elected lawmakers, and Indians are captivated by the drama that is unfolding on their television screens.

Here is a quick guide to what has been happening so far:

So who won the election?
Nobody - that's the problem.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party, but it fell short of a majority by eight seats. Even as the election results were being announced on Tuesday evening, the Congress rushed to ally itself with a regional party, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S).

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Within hours, they had declared an alliance. Together, they have enough seats to give their coalition a slim majority in the new assembly.

But Karnataka's governor Vajubhai Vala invited the BJP to form the government and even allowed their candidate, BS Yeddyurappa, to be sworn-in as chief minister.

His controversial decision has led to a major standoff, with many saying it is a violation of the constitution.