In pictures: Voters turn out in large numbers on the first day of India's mammoth elections.
A three-party alliance of regional parties threatens the momentum of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by strongman Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh , a state with a population of at least 200 million.
While the BJP won a landslide in 2014, bagging over 70 seats from UP alone, its momentum in this election is checked by a regional alliance of three political parties which will likely lead to a tight race.Muslim voter and sugarcane farmer poses for a photo in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar's district. The district was a scene of deadly riots in 2013, leading to BJP's victory after votes got divided into Hindus and Muslims.
Muslims seem voting considerably for anti-BJP alliance of the regional SP-BSP-RLD parties, that has vowed to end divide between Hindu and Muslim population and patch up the angry sides. Uttar Pradesh is largely conservative and male-controlled. Over the past few years Hindu men have carried out attacks on Muslims on the pretext of protecting cow, a sacred animal in Hinduism.
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