Tens of millions of Indians have cast their ballots in the first phase of India's month-long election.More than 140 million of India's 714 million voters were eligible to take part on Thursday, with a total of 124 seats in the Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, up for grabs.Long queues formed outside many polling stations despite the fact that no clear winner is likely to emerge during the five stages of voting which end on May 13.More than two million officers have been deployed to prevent unrest during the election, which will use more than 1.3 million electronic voting machines in 828,804 polling stations.
However, there were scattered reports of violence by suspected Maoist fighters in several states on Thursday.
Election violence
Five election officials were killed when a landmine exploded in Chhattisgarh state.
In the eastern Jharkand state, eight officials were kidnapped by suspected Maoists, where a number of people had been killed in clashes between the police and fighters the previous day.There were also attacks in Bihar and Orissa.The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, have called for a boycott of the election and blocked roads to prevent officials from reaching polling stations.Many people in India's eastern states defied the Maoists to go to the polls."I am aware of the threat by militants, but one can't stay at home out of fear," Monalisa Bordoloi Chakravarty said as she queued to vote in one town in Assam state.Neither of the two main national parties - the incumbent Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - is seen as capable of securing an absolute majority when the results are finally announced on May 16.
With a myriad of other parties expected to take up to 50 per cent of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the final result will kick off an intense period of political horse-trading as the major players rush to form a coalition.
Exit polls are not carried out during the staggered election in order to avoid later voters being influenced.
With a myriad of other parties expected to take up to 50 per cent of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, the final result will kick off an intense period of political horse-trading as the major players rush to form a coalition.
Exit polls are not carried out during the staggered election in order to avoid later voters being influenced.
Stiff challenge
Reporting on Thursday from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, Al Jazeera's Matt McClure said: "India's parliament is likely to look very different from the current one.
"The Congress party here is facing a stiff challenge from the Hindu nationalist BJP, but it is also being challenged by two smaller, regional, caste-based parties - the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who many people here have said they are considering voting for."Singh said on Wednesday that he would be open to renewing an alliance with communist parties after the election despite an angry split last year over a civilian nuclear deal signed with the US.The prospect of a shaky coalition of disparate allies is a turn-off for most Indian voters, with any new government likely to face national security concerns and a sharp economic slowdown after years of soaring growth.
The only viable alternative to a Congress- or BJP-led coalition is provided by a loose alliance of left-leaning and regional parties called the Third Front, which is led by the communists.
"The Congress party here is facing a stiff challenge from the Hindu nationalist BJP, but it is also being challenged by two smaller, regional, caste-based parties - the Samajwadi party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, who many people here have said they are considering voting for."Singh said on Wednesday that he would be open to renewing an alliance with communist parties after the election despite an angry split last year over a civilian nuclear deal signed with the US.The prospect of a shaky coalition of disparate allies is a turn-off for most Indian voters, with any new government likely to face national security concerns and a sharp economic slowdown after years of soaring growth.
The only viable alternative to a Congress- or BJP-led coalition is provided by a loose alliance of left-leaning and regional parties called the Third Front, which is led by the communists.
Economic crisis
Congress, ending a five-year period in power, has seen its main achievement - economic growth averaging more than eight per cent in recent years - hit by the global economic crisis.
"As citizens of this country we want basic facilities for development like electricity, water, jobs for our young," Chotte Lal Singh Patel, a village elder from the outskirts of the city of Varanasi, said on Thursday.Grassroots issues are behind the rise of regional and local groupings which have succeeded in splintering national support for the established parties by catering to small constituencies.
Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst, said: "India needs a strong government at this stage to be able to tide us over the economic crisis in particular, besides issues like relations with Pakistan and instability elsewhere. "But it seems increasingly likely that we're going to get a weak coalition that will probably only last two to three years."
Rasheed Kidwai, a political analyst, said: "India needs a strong government at this stage to be able to tide us over the economic crisis in particular, besides issues like relations with Pakistan and instability elsewhere. "But it seems increasingly likely that we're going to get a weak coalition that will probably only last two to three years."
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