World's biggest elections underway as India's Narendra Modi seeks third term

Tens of millions of people have started to vote India as world's biggest election turned into referendum on populist PM Narendra Modi.

Nearly a billion people are eligible to vote, with Modi, of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, seeking a third consecutive term.

He defended an assertive Hindu nationalist policy.

But voters worry about a jobs crisis, rising prices and a crackdown on dissent.

People started queuing polling stations hours before being allowed to enter the first 21 states to vote at 7 a.m. Friday, from the Himalayan mountains to the tropical Andaman islands.

Nearly 970 million voters, more than 10 percent of the world's population, will elect 543 members of the lower house of Parliament for five years in staggered elections running until June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.

Several key opposition parties have formed an alliance led by the Indian National Congress in many states to take on Modis BJP.

If Modi wins, he will be only the second Indian leader to retain power for a third term, after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first prime minister.

Most polls predict a Modi victory.

It is not clear who will lead India if the opposition alliance, called INDIA, is victorious. More than 20 parties have not yet presented a candidate.

The BJP controls much of the Hindi-speaking regions of northern and central India, but is now trying to gain a foothold in the east and south. Their toughest challenge lies in the south Tamilnadu State, with 39 seats, where the vote takes place.

Voters in hot and humid Chennai, the state capital, began quickly filling the city's nearly 4,000 polling booths.

A number of them said they were voting for a change in federal government given rising prices, unemployment and religious polarization fueled by the BJP.

Mary Das, 65, who was waiting in line, said: The first thing I came to vote for is a country without religious discord. In Tamil Nadu, Hindus, Muslims and Christians were all together. And this unity should grow.

In Rajasthanpeople returning from polling stations covered their heads against the dusty winds.

Atinder Singh, 26, added: If the new government can solve unemployment, it will be a good thing. People migrate from this region to earn a living.

Modi ramped up his Hindu nationalist rhetoric during his election campaign and sought to present himself as a world leader. His ministers present him as the steward of a thriving India, while his supporters celebrate his election promise to make India a developed nation by 2047, when it will celebrate 100 years of independence.

But while India's economy is growing among the fastest in the world, many of its people face growing economic distress.

The opposition alliance hopes to exploit that potential by seeking to galvanize voters on issues such as high unemployment, inflation, corruption and low agricultural prices that have sparked two years of farmers' protests.

Critics warn that Modi has become increasingly illiberal and accuse him of using tax authorities and police to harass the opposition.

They fear a third term will undermine Indian democracy. Its Hindu nationalist policies, they argue, have bred intolerance and threaten the country's secular roots.

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