TIME South Asia

The World’s Largest Election Begins

With more than 814 million people eligible to vote in India's general election that began on April 7, the world’s largest democratic exercise is spread out over five weeks. Pre-election opinion surveys saw a strong showing for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which could oust the Congress Party-led coalition government

A polling officer carries an electronic voting machine on his way to a polling station after arriving from a ferryboat in Nimatighat, Jorhat district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, April 5, 2014. An Indian family listens as Rahul Gandhi, leader of India's ruling Congress Party speaks at a rally on April 6, 2014 in New Delhi. Supporters hold up cut-outs of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party symbol with images of M.K. Stalin, son and heir-apparent of M. Karunanidhi, chief of DMK during a rally ahead of a general election in the southern Indian city of Chennai, April 6, 2014. Indian voters wait in queues to cast their votes during the first phase of elections in Dibrugarh, in the northeastern state of Assam, India, April 7, 2014. A polling officer helps a woman to cast her vote at a polling station in Majuli, a large river island in the Brahmaputra river, Jorhat district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, April 7, 2014. An Indian election officer applies an indelible ink mark on the finger of a woman during the first phase of elections in Dibrugarh, in the northeastern state of Assam, India, April 7, 2014. Indian children play at Krishna nagar village on the outskirts of Allahabad, India, April 7, 2014.

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