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Voters from 18 Indian states and two Union territories began voting on the first day of a six-week election in a country of 1.3 billion residents. The outgoing Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is considered the favorite of the largest democratic elections in the world.
Thousands of parties and candidates will run by May 19 in 543 constituencies totaling 1.3 billion people.
Some of the 1.1 electronic voting machines will be transported through the jungle and mountains, including in a hamlet near the Chinese border with a single voter.
Due to the vastness of India, the elections are held in seven phases and begin Thursday with 142 million people eligible to vote.
Polling stations in the northeastern states, such as Arunachal Pradesh, on the border with China, were the first to open, followed by parts of Bihar in the north and Jammu and Kashmir in the Himalayas. .
The election is considered a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) of Hindu nationalist inspiration.
The party invoked its Hindu nationalist roots before the 2014 elections, which brought Modi to power. In February, the military clashes between India and Pakistan, his rival, allowed him to stand as the "chowkidar" (guardian) protecting the mother, India.
Modi appealed to his 47 million followers in an early tweet in the morning.
Modi, the son of a tea salesman from the state of Gujarat, has simplified the tax code, facilitated transactions and made credible the improvement of the country's international status.
But some of his promises have been disappointed, especially in rural areas where thousands of indebted peasants have committed suicide in recent years.
His critics also say that the Hindu nationalism of his BHP party has fueled religious tensions in India, where Hindus make up about 80 percent of the population.
Modi's main rival, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the 48-year-old opposition congressional party, hopes to become the last prime minister of his dynasty.
He accused Modi of provoking a "national disaster".
Opinion polls are notoriously unreliable in India and much will depend on the performance of the BJP in several key states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The vote closes on May 19 and the count is scheduled for May 23.
(with newswires)
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