Marathon parliamentary elections kick off in India
Voting for a new parliament has begun in India, with voters in many states heading to polls in the most polarized elections since India’s independence from Britain in 1947.
The election has pit the National Democratic Alliance led by two-time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), spearheaded by the main opposition party, Indian National Congress.
According to IRNA citing Indian media, Friday's phase is the first and largest of seven phases, covering 166 million voters in 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories, from Tamil Nadu in the south to Arunachal Pradesh on the Himalayan frontier with China.
Almost a billion people in the world's most populous nation are eligible to vote in the elections running through the peak of summer until June 1, with results set for June 4.
Modi's BJP hopes to win the necessary parliamentary majority but the party backed by rightwing Hindu outfits like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal among others, is accused of weakening democracy in India since this party came to power in 2014.
As many as 543 seats are up for grab in the elections with thousands of candidates from dozens of political parties are in the race in seven-stage elections.
The voting age is 18 years and candidates must be at least 25 years old.