People queued up at polling booths in Assam's five constituencies as balloting began in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election Monday. The state recorded 12 percent voting in the first two hours, officials said here.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Sunday launched a multi-pronged attack on the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, accusing the party of practising "divisive politics" and said the party was only blowing balloons into the air that will soon burst.
India's general election, to elect 543 members to the 16th Lok Sabha, or the House of People in the bicameral parliament, kicks off Monday, with balloting starting from two states in the northeast, Assam and Tripura.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the country's youngest political formation, is battling a severe financial crunch even as it contests its first parliamentary election.
Why has the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not been able to release the party manifesto as yet, even though the first phase of balloting begins Monday? For Narendra Modi, this lapse is a major embarrassment.
Contesting this election was not in my mind. But (AAP leader) Arvind Kejriwal convinced me that AAP needed me to contest because the system cannot be fought, much less changed, from the outside