India begins second phase of national elections with Modi’s BJP as front-runner

NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting Friday in the second round of multi-phase national elections as polarization grows with Prime Minister Narendra Modi whipping up an assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics in his campaign.

People lined up outside polling stations as voting opened at 7 a.m. The turnout was expected to pick up as the day progresses.

The outcome of Friday's voting across 88 constituencies in 13 states with 160 million voters will be crucial for Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party as it includes some of its strongholds in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Most polls predict a win for Modi and the BJP, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad constituency in southern Kerala state for a second time after he was defeated in 2019 elections by Smriti Irani, a BJP leader, in the northern Indian city of Amethi — a traditional stronghold for the Nehrugandhi family.

Other key leaders in the second phase of voting include Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party and BJP'S popular Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Arun Govil, who had played the role of Hindu's most revered Lord Ram in a 1987 television adaptation of the ancient epic Ramayana.

The BJP already won one parliamentary seat from Surat in Gujarat state, where the Congress party candidate was disqualified Monday. Election officials said they found discrepancies in the signatures on the nomination and other candidates pulled out of the contest, leaving the BJP nominee as the winner.