by Krishn Kaushik, Praveen Paramasivam and YP Rajesh
KAIRANA/CHENNAI, INDIA (Reuters) – The first polling stations opened on Friday in India for parliamentary elections in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the lead, but the main opposition Congress believes the election will be closer than polls suggest.
Nearly a billion voters are expected at polling stations for a vote which is expected to last seven weeks.
Some 166 million voters will cast their votes on Friday in 102 constituencies across 21 states and territories.
“Over the next five years we will make our country one of the top three economies in the world, we will launch the final assault – the decisive assault – against poverty, we will explore new avenues for growth, we will unveil new reforms and we will take decisions and perform actions for the people,” wrote Narendra Modi in the BJP’s profession of faith.
If successful, Narendra Modi, aged 73, would become the second Indian Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru, hero of independence and the country’s first head of government, to obtain a third consecutive term.
(French version Camille Raynaud)
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