10/04/2014 10:50
Indians vote on key election day
Millions of Indians have begun voting on the first big day of the general election pitting the ruling Congress party against the main opposition BJP, the BBC reported.
Polling is being held in 91 seats in 14 states, including in the capital Delhi and the key state of Uttar Pradesh.
The nine-phase vote began on Monday and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May.
More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in the polls.
Two soldiers were killed and three others injured in a landmine explosion blamed on Maoist rebels in Jamui, a rebel stronghold in the eastern state of Bihar, police said.
The blast occurred before polling began, but voting has remained unaffected in the area.
Voters have turned out enthusiastically to cast their ballots in the politically crucial northern state of Uttar Pradesh which sends the maximum number of MPs to the parliament, says the BBC Hindi's Nitin Srivastava in Muzaffarnagar.
Some 16 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in 10 constituencies in the state that go the polls today.