India begins giant general election
Indians are voting in the first phase of a general election which pits the governing Congress party against the Hindu nationalist BJP opposition.
The nine-phase vote got under way in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May.
More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in a poll dominated by corruption and high inflation. An anticorruption party the AAP offers another challenge to the main parties.
The Aam Aadmi (Common Man’s) Party) secured a spectacular result in local polls in Delhi last autumn and is fielding candidates in all of parliament’s 543 elected seats.
Several smaller regional parties are also in the fray and if no single party wins a clear majority, they could play a crucial role in government formation.
India’s marathon vote is being staggered over more than a month for security and logistical reasons.
On the first day of voting, polling is taking place in six constituencies in two states in the north-east - five in Assam and one in Tripura.
Voters began queuing up outside the polling centres even before voting began in the morning, the BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder in Assam says.
A large number of the voters who turned up were women, dressed in colourful saris and some draped in Assamese shawls.
Many smiled happily after they had voted, holding up their fingers stained with indelible ink, a sign that they had exercised their right, our correspondent adds. “We need good people in government,” said one of them.