Voting began on Thursday in the first phase of mammoth general election.
Voting in the first of seven rounds is being held in 91 parliament constituencies across 20 states and federally administered regions. There are 543 seats at stake.
Security for the polls was increased after seven people were killed in militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and in eastern India, where Maoist insurgents were blamed for a bomb that killed a state legislator from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Spread over 39 days, the final phase of the election will be held on May 19, and the result will be announced on May 23.
Almost 900 million of India’s 1.3 billion people are eligible to vote. The first phase of voting covers an electorate of 142 million.
