India kick-starts general elections

Voting for the third phase of India's general election has started in 91 constituencies, representing nearly a fifth of the 543-seat lower house, across the capital, two other union territories and 11 states.

Seats being contested on Thursday are in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshwadeep, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The elections to choose members to the 543-seat Lok Sabha, or House of the People, will be spread over five weeks. Results for the nine-phase voting are expected on May 16.

Polling started on April 7 in two small northeastern states and spread across four northeastern states amid tight security on Wednesday.

Security forces have stepped up safety measures to ensure a safe and fearless environment for voters.

But earlier, suspected Maoist rebels blew up a jeep carrying paramilitary soldiers, killing two and wounding three others hours before voting began in eastern Bihar state, the police said.

The soldiers were patrolling a forest in a rebel stronghold in Munger district when their jeep hit a land mine nearly 225km southeast of Patna, the state capital, police officer Jitendra Rana told the AP news agency. 

Maoist rebels have urged people to boycott the elections in the region. However, voting remained unaffected and started as scheduled on Thursday morning, Rana said.

A voter in Muzaffarnagar district of India's northern Uttar Pradesh state, Ramesh Sharma, said that he was voting against corruption.

"This time we have to vote against corruption. We have come early to beat the rush at the polling booth," Sharma told Reuters news agency.