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India election: Voting begins as Modi seeks 3rd term

Published 10 hours ago Published 10 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago last updated 2 hours ago

Polls have opened in India’s mammoth general election, with almost a billion eligible to vote between now and June 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to win the contest.

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What you need to know

• The vote will take place in seven phases between April 19 and June 1
• Some 968 million people are eligible to vote in the world’s biggest election
• Incumbent Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist BJP appears a clear favorite for a third term
• Opposition Congress Party argues that Modi has undermined India’s democracy 

Rahul Gandhi said “there is no more democracy in India”

The election is taking place against a backdrop of allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party is stifling democracy.

Last month, the opposition Congress party said that all of its bank accounts had been frozen ahead of the election by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rahul Gandhi, a former head of India’s Congress party, remarked that “there is no more democracy in India” as being cut off from its finances left the party unable to campaign ahead of the six-week-long election process.

“We can’t support our workers, and our candidates and leaders can’t travel by air or train,” the Congress party figure told reporters. “It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections.

The BJP denied those allegations and said the accounts were partially frozen over a failure to provide tax returns for donations received in 2017-18.