Almost 188 million people eligible to vote in 117 constituencies across 15 states and federally controlled territories.
Millions of Indians are voting in the third and largest phase of a staggered general election on Tuesday, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who cast his ballot in his home state of Gujarat.
In all, 188 million voters are eligible to cast ballots in 117 constituencies during the day across 15 states and federally administered territories.
Nearly 24 percent of people had voted as of 12pm, India’s election commission said.
More than 900 million Indians are expected to elect 543 members to the lower house of parliament or Lok Sabha.
The general election, which has seven phases, began on April 11 and will end on May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23.
In Gujarat, Modi first met his mother early in the morning and then rode in an open jeep, surrounded by hundreds of onlookers, to cast his vote shortly after 8am (0230 GMT) – the opening time of the polls.
“IED is a weapon of terrorism, and voter ID is a weapon of democracy,” he told reporters after voting, referring to improvised explosive devices and voter identification cards.
“I believe the voter ID is much more powerful than an IED.”
The election is seen as a referendum on Modi’s five-year rule. He has adopted a nationalist pitch trying to win the majority Hindu votes by projecting a tough stance against neighbouring Pakistan.
The opposition is challenging him over a high unemployment rate of 6.1 percent and farmers’ distress aggravated by low crop prices.
“This is, sort of, an inflation point,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the New Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Policy Research.
So far, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has aggressively pushed Modi’s national security record as it seeks to offset the opposition’s charges of economic mishandling, inadequate jobs creation and widespread farm distress.
