Polling begins in 1st phase of India’s marathon general elections

UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA - APRIL 19: Polling began Friday morning in the first phase of India’s general elections, with millions of voters expected to exercise their fundamental right to choose their representatives in 102 parliamentary constituencies in 21 states. Voting to elect 543 lawmakers to the lower house of India’s Parliament, known as the Lok Sabha, is being held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The vote count will take place on June 4. In the first phase of voting, for which campaigning ended on Wednesday, 166.3 million voters are eligible to vote, for which around 187,000 polling stations have been set up. There are 1,625 candidates in the fray, while 3.5 million first-time voters are registered to cast their votes, according to the election commission. The first phase has the highest number of parliamentary constituencies among all phases, according to election authorities. Voting begins at 7 a.m. local time and ends at 6 p.m. Among the states going to vote on Friday are the southern state of Tamil Nadu, with 39 seats, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done massive campaigning to woo voters who mostly vote for regional parties. This general election is primarily a battle between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) headed by the Indian National Congress. Modi, seeking a record third consecutive term, has set a target of 370 seats for the BJP and over 400 for the NDA.(Footage by Imtiyaz KhanAmarjeet Kumar Singh/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)