Voters in India will begin heading to the polls on Friday in a massive election that will last more than a month, with seats in India's lower house of parliament and another term for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at stake.
The latest opinion polls put Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) far in the lead. The 73-year-old Modi is campaigning for a third five-year term as the country's leader.
Polling stations will remain open until June 1, with results expected on June 4.
Around 970 million people are eligible to take part in the world's largest election, with more than 1 million polling stations open across the country. India, the world's most populous country, is home to about 1.4 billion people.
The logistics required to manage an election on India's scale are immense, made more complicated by India's diverse geography.
Millions of election workers and security forces using lorries, helicopters, boats and even elephants will transport ballot boxes to all corners of the country - the Himalayas, deserts, sprawling metropolises and remote island villages.
India's lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha or House of the People, has nearly 550 seats. The BJP currently holds a majority.
Modi remains popular in India, and the campaign by the BJP - which translates as Indian People's Party - has focused heavily on his personality and charisma.
The political opposition is relatively weak and fractured. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's Congress Party, which once dominated Indian politics, now holds power in only three of India's 28 states.
Critics have accused Modi and the BJP of suppressing opposition ahead of the election.
Under Modi, India has risen to become the world's fifth-largest economic power and is also playing an increasingly important political role as a counterweight to China.
