Asia

Voting in Indian elections reaches next-to-last phase

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Polling officers carry their assigned electronic voting machines before proceeding towards their allotted polling stations on the eve of polling in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, May 11, 2019. The sixth phase of the seven-phased general elections will be held Sunday. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Election officers carry electronic voting machines before proceeding towards their allotted polling stations on the eve of polling in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, May 11, 2019. The sixth phase of the seven-phased general elections will be held Sunday. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Indians are voting in the next-to-last round of 6-week-long national elections, marked by a highly acrimonious campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flaying the opposition Congress party rival Rahul Gandhi for the country's ills.

Sunday's voting in 59 constituencies, including seven in the Indian capital, will complete polling for 483 of 543 seats in the lower house of Parliament. The voting for the remaining 60 seats will be held on May 19.

Votes will be counted on May 23.

Turnout in the first five phases averaged 67%, nearly the same as in 2014 elections that brought Modi to power.

Opinion polls say Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party continues to be the front-runner, but it is likely to return with a lesser number of 282 seats.