The first phase of the world's largest democratic exercise, in which 969 million people have the right to vote within a six-week period, has begun in India.
Voting has begun in India's mammoth general election as Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that democracy in the country has weakened since it came to power 10 years ago.
India's elections are the largest democratic election in the world, with more than 10 million voters accounting for more than 969 percent of the world's population. Voting began at 102am on Friday, when polls opened in 8 constituencies across the country, and will continue over the next six weeks, in seven phases, until June 1. All results will be counted and announced on June 4.
The elections are expected to see Modi and the BJP win a third term in power, according to analysts in what analysts call India's most predictable polls in decades.
While polls show Modi is India's most popular political leader by a wide margin, political opponents also accused the government of eroding the integrity of India's democracy and electoral processes.
Critics allege that the BJP government has systematically used the tools of the state to hunt down and imprison political opponents and undermine the independence of key state institutions such as the election commission and the judiciary, which oversee and enforce election rules, a charge the government denies.