Indians began voting on Thursday in the first phase of a mammoth general electio...
GHAZIABAD, India - Indians began voting on Thursday in the first phase of a mammoth general election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi gunning for a second term having campaigned strongly on his national security record following a flare up in tensions with Pakistan.
Voting in the first of seven rounds is being held in 91 parliament constituencies across 20 states and federally administered regions. There are 543 seats at stake. Pollsters say support for the BJP rose in response to Modi’s tough stance against Pakistan, which saw aerial clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbours following a Pakistan-based militant organisation’s suicide attack in February that killed 40 paramilitary police in Kashmir.
About two dozen voters had lined up at that voting centre and more were streaming in early on Thursday. Young men in jeans and shorts, older men in white kurtas and women in colourful sarees stood in the lines. “The gap between Congress and the BJP is still enormous, so no one is seriously thinking that Congress is going to fill that gap,” he added. “The opposition landscape remains heavily fragmented.”
In Uttar Pradesh, which sends more lawmakers to parliament than any other, Ajesh Kumar, who runs a roadside restaurant, said he voted for the BJP in 2014, when Hindu-Muslims riots in the area killed at least 65 people, and would do so again.that show Modi's government has failed to create enough work for the millions of young Indians entering the labour force each year.
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