India votes in first phase of marathon election as Modi seeks third term

Polls have closed in the first of seven phases that covered 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories.

Millions of Indians have voted in the first phase of the world’s largest elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third term on the back of issues such as growth, welfare and Hindu nationalism.

The vote pits Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of two dozen opposition parties that promise greater affirmative action and more handouts while stressing what they call the need to save democratic institutions.

Before polls closed on Friday, the Election Commission said voter turnout ranged from 40 percent in the sprawling northern state of Bihar to 68 percent in the small northeastern state of Tripura. In the multiphase 2019 polls, the average turnout was 67 percent.

“I urge all those voting … to exercise their franchise in record numbers,” Modi posted on the social media platform X before voting began.

The main opposition Indian National Congress party urged voters to end “hatred and injustice” in a statement on X.

About 969 million people have registered to vote in the six-week elections, including 18 million first-time voters and 197 million who are in their 20s. This makes India’s electorate bigger than the combined population of the 27 European Union member states.

Friday’s vote was the first of seven phases, and it covered 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories from Tamil Nadu in the south to Arunachal Pradesh on the Himalayan frontier with China. Voters in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur also turned out in large numbers to vote in the shadow of ethnic clashes that have killed at least 220 people in the past year.

Voters patiently assembled in a long