Bernie Sanders defeats Hillary Clinton in Indiana primary

US Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has triumphed over rival Hillary Clinton in Indiana's crucial Democratic primary.

Sanders’ victory on Tuesday boosted the self-declared socialist’s argument that the party’s superdelegates should support him in July’s Democratic convention.

The senator was ahead of the former secretary of state by 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting.

“We feel great about tonight, not only in winning here in Indiana...but also gaining the momentum we need to take us to the finish line,” Sanders said at a Tuesday night press conference. “I sense some great deal of momentum, I sense some great victories coming.”

He said he would make history in America through upsetting Clinton’s campaign and defeating Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in November election.

“I think we can pull off one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States and in fact become the nominee for the Democratic Party and once we secure that position, I have absolute confidence that we are going to defeat Donald Trump in the general election,” he noted.

“We end up winning the vote of people 45 years of age or younger. That is important because it tells me that the ideas that we are fighting for are the ideas for the future of America and the future of the Democratic Party,” Sanders told his supporters in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday night.

While 72 percent of 17 to 29 year olds support Sanders, 60 percent of people aged 60 and above favor Clinton, according to new polling in Indiana.

Meanwhile, 76 percent of Indiana voters say Clinton's proposed policies are more realistic as opposed to 67 percent who believe the same about Sanders' proposed policies.

On the Republican side, Ted Cruz officially suspended his presidential campaign following his failure in the Indiana primary.

Trump emerged as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee with 53.2 percent support, followed by Cruz with 36.7 percent and John Kasich with only 7.6 percent.

"From the beginning, I said I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory," Cruz said in his speech before the supporters.

"Tonight, I'm sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed. Together we left it all on the field in Indiana. We gave it everything we got. But the voters chose another path. And so, with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign."

The nomination will be finalized in the 2016 Republican National Convention, set to be held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena from July 18 to 21.

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