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 After weeks of campaigning, with politicians hurling insults at one another and making booming speeches in cities, towns and villages, the world’s largest democratic elections began in the most remote, northeast corner of the country on Monday. 
 
 India Votes News and analysis on the world’s largest election. 
 
 Five voting districts with up to 7.5 million eligible voters in upper Assam and one district in the neighboring state of Tripura are participating in the opening stage of the nine-phase elections in India. The estimated 8,000 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 5 p.m. The chief electoral officers of Assam and Tripura reported 72.5 percent and 83 percent voter turnout, respectively, as of Monday evening. 
 
 Each constituency in Assam has a large percentage of rural voters, and many areas have vast tea plantations, with their workers making up a large portion of the electorate. 
 
 In the city of Dibrugarh, in upper Assam, lines were short, but in the village of Khowang, about 35 kilometers outside the city, roughly 600 people flocked to two booths set up in a government school. 
 
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 India’s elections, which run from Monday to May 12, will cover 28 states and seven union territories, which are governed by the central government. These elections will see some of the country’s 814.5 million voters exercise their franchise. The votes will be counted on May 16. 
 
 This vote is widely seen as historic, coming at a time of widespread social change that has put the Indian National Congress-led government on the defensive after leading the country for 10 years. Opinion polls have shown that voters are leaning toward the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., as a growing middle-class electorate expresses disappointment with lackluster government services and corruption; voters are mobilizing on social media en masse for the first time; and the B.J.P. has connected to crucial voting demographics — including rural and young voters — by harnessing a popular demand for change. 

 Media caption The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder reports on how day one of the world's biggest election unfolded 
 
 Indians have voted in the first phase of a general election which pits the governing Congress party against the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. 
 
 The nine-phase vote got under way in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May. 
 
 More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in a poll dominated by corruption and high inflation. 
 
 An anti-corruption party the AAP offers another challenge to the main parties. 
 
 The Aam Aadmi (Common Man's) Party) secured a spectacular result in local polls in Delhi last autumn and is fielding candidates in all of parliament's 543 elected seats. 
 
 Mr Modi represents a return to personalised politics, not seen in India since the days of Indira Gandhi in the 1970s 
 
 Several smaller regional parties are also in the fray and if no single party wins a clear majority, they could play a crucial role in government formation. 
 
 Brisk voting 
 
 India's marathon vote is being staggered over more than a month for security and logistical reasons. 
 
 On the first day of voting, polling took place in six constituencies in two states in the north-east - five in Assam and one in Tripura. 
 
 Media caption The BBC's Mishal Husain visited a BJP rally in Aligarh 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Voters began queuing up outside the polling centres even before they opened. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Many of the voters were women, dressed in colourful saris and some draped in Assamese shawls. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Assam has more than six million eligible voters. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Assam is a Congress party stronghold but the opposition BJP is hoping to make inroads. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Voting is also being held in one of the two constituencies in the tiny north-eastern state of Tripura. 
 
 Voters began queuing up outside the polling centres even before voting began in the morning, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Assam says. 
 
 A large number of the voters who turned up were women, dressed in colourful saris and some draped in Assamese shawls. 
 
 Many smiled happily after they had voted, holding up their fingers stained with indelible ink, a sign that they had exercised their right, our correspondent adds. 
 
 "We need good people in government," said one of them. 
 
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 Assam is a Congress party stronghold but the BJP is hoping to make inroads there. 
 
 The state is dotted with plantations growing the world-famous Assam tea and has more than six million eligible voters. 
 
 Brisk polling was registered in the state. Officials put turnout at about 75%. 
 
 The strong turnout is a sign, many believe, that voters are frustrated and want a change, our correspondent adds. 
 
 The main contest in the elections is between the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, the latest member of India's influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and the BJP, led by the charismatic and controversial Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi. 
 
 Mr Modi, who is ahead in all the pre-election surveys, is the leader of Gujarat state, which witnessed one of India's worst anti-Muslim riots in 2002. 
 
 The BJP has promised to improve the economy and infrastructure and curb corruption if it wins in the general elections. 
 
 The party launched its manifesto hours after polling began for the first phase. 
 
 "Today the country has become stagnant. It is drowned in pessimism. It needs momentum to move forward," Mr Modi said at the launch of the manifesto. 
 
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 The Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) has 543 elected seats and any party or a coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government. 
 
 Some 814 million voters - 100 million more than at the last elections in 2009 - are eligible to vote at 930,000 polling stations, up from 830,000 polling stations in 2009. 
 
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 Electronic voting machines will be used and will, for the first time, contain a None of the Above (Nota) button - an option for voters who do not want to cast their ballot for any of the candidates. 
 
 The Congress party has promised "inclusive growth" if it returns to power. 
 
 In its election manifesto, the party promised a raft of welfare schemes, including a right to healthcare for all and pensions for the aged and disabled.
– An Indian electorate some 814.5 million strong is preparing to cast ballots in the world's biggest democratic election. Beginning in the northeast, the country will vote for its next leadership over the course of several weeks, with polls closing May 12, the New York Times reports. The vote count comes May 16. The current governing party, the Indian Congress Party, has been in power for 10 years. But right now, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party appears set to win—if polls are correct—making this election potentially historic, the Times notes. The middle class, the Times observes, is getting fed up with poor services and corruption from the Congress Party. The run-up to the election has seen voters gathering on social media. The BBC notes that voters, many of whom are women, were lining up to vote before polls opened; turnout around noon, local time, was about 35%. "We need good people in government," said one voter. A number of other parties also have candidates in the mix; 272 MPs are required to form a government in the 543-member lower house of parliament, and a coalition could be necessary if no party snags a majority.