NEW DELHI -- It takes a month to elect a new leader in the world's largest democracy. In remote farming villages and sprawling concrete cities, tens of millions of Indians began voting Thursday amid a deeply fractured political scene largely empty of national issues. The election won't wrap up until mid-May -- and there may not be a new government selected until early June -- but a series of bloody guerrilla attacks and blazing summertime temperatures failed to keep voters away from the polls. The vote was the first of five phases in which a total of some 714 million people -- more than 10 times the entire French population -- will be eligible to go to the polls. (21 images)
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A Hindu devotee prays to the River Ganges in Varanasi, India, Wednesday, April 15, a day before the city went to the polls. India's national elections, which began Thursday, will take place in five phases until May 13. AP / Manish Swarup
Bahujan Samaj Party supporters listen to party president Mayawati, who goes by one name, at an election rally in Allahabad, India, Monday, April 20. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
A child looks on as Bahujan Samaj Party supporters listen to party president Mayawati, who goes by one name, at an election rally in Allahabad, India, Monday, April 20. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Samajwadi Party supporters wave party flags during a rally addressed by party President Mulayam Singh Yadav in Allahabad, India, Saturday, April 18. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Congress party supporters carry party flags as they await President Sonia Gandhi, at an election rally in Allahabad, India, Sunday,April 19. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Samajwadi Party supporters wave towards the chopper carrying party President Mulayam Singh Yadav after an election rally in Allahabad, India, Saturday, April 18. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
People stand in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station, during the first phase of general elections, in Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. Hundreds of thousands of Indians went to polling stations Thursday to start the world's biggest democratic elections, a monthlong process expected to yield no clear winner to lead India as it grapples with global economic malaise. AP / Manish Swarup
A woman walks away from the polling area after casting her vote at a polling station, in Jamuva Bazar, near Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Manish Swarup
Muslim women walk out of a polling station after casting their votes during the first phase of general elections in Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Manish Swarup
A Congress party supporter carries her child as she listens to President Sonia Gandhi, unseen, at an election rally in Allahabad, India, Sunday, April 19. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
A policeman stands guard as women wait for their turn to cast votes at a polling booth at Rajgadha, village in Mirzapur district, about 94 miles from Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, April 16. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Punavasi Devi, 90, left, prepares to cast her vote at a polling station in Mirzapur district, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, April 16. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Villagers wait to cast their vote at a polling both at Badimunda village in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, about 187 miles from Bhubaneshwar, India, Thursday, April 16. The district witnessed large scale violence against Christians last year following the killing of a Hindu religious leader in August, 2008. Heavy security and special transportation arrangements have been made with permission of the Election Commission to enable as many as 3,000 riot victims, who are still in relief camps, to vote. AP / Biswaranjan Rout
Election officers pack electronic voting machine at the end of the first phase of polling, in Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Manish Swarup
Election officers seal electronic voting machine at the end of the first phase of polling, in Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Manish Swarup
Security personnel wait with electronic voting machines, to be transported to a polling booth at Gaya, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, Wednesday, April 15. Heavily armed Maoist rebels attacked a paramilitary camp in the state set up for the elections, wounding one soldier, senior police official Vikas Vaibhav said. AP / Saurabh Das
Villagers wait in the queue as they hold their voter Identity card at a polling both at Badimunda village in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, about 300 kilometers (187 miles) from Bhubaneshwar, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Biswaranjan Rout
A Hindu holy man makes his thumb mark before casting his vote at a polling station in Duvara Pahadi village in Mirzapur district, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, April 16. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Women wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station, on the outskirts of in Varanasi, India, Thursday, April 16. In tiny villages and sprawling concrete cities, tens of millions of Indians voted Thursday at the start of a monthlong election process expected to yield no clear winner as this Asian giant grapples with global economic malaise. AP / Manish Swarup
Women walk towards a polling booth, as a polling agent briefs them at Mehdora village in Mirzapur district, about 50 miles from Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, April 16. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard during elections at Tikabali village in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, about 187 miles from Bhubaneshwar, India, Thursday, April 16. AP / Biswaranjan Rout
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