Election in India enters fourth phase as rhetoric over religion, inequality sharpens

India voted on Monday in the fourth phase of a seven-week long general election, as campaign rhetoric became more strident over economic disparities and religious divisions while soaring summer temperatures was a challenge for some voters.

The world's most populous nation began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one billion people are eligible to vote, with ballots set to be counted on June 4.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a rare, third straight term in a contest which pits his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties, including main rival Congress.

"I appeal to all to vote for a decisive government," said Amit Shah, Modi's powerful aide, and the country's home or interior minister, as voting began.

Polling will be held on Monday for 96 seats in 10 states and territories, largely covering the southern and eastern states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha where the BJP is not as strong as other parts of the country.

Police imposed restrictions on gatherings ahead of the vote in the militarised region, while opposition parties said their workers were arrested, which police denied.

Former Jammu and Kashmir state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, president of the National Conference party, said Modi and Shah "will definitely get defeated" nationally.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim lawmaker contesting from the southern city of Hyderabad, which also voted on Monday, said the BJP had fewer supporters after Modi's recent "venomous" comments against minority Muslims.

"An individual cannot be bigger than the country. So, Modi is not the country, a country is way bigger than any politician," he said.

Modi has said that he does not oppose Muslims and his government does not discriminate against them.

Analysts have raised doubts over whether BJP and its allies can win the landslide predicted by opinion polls and said that the lower turnout had prompted Modi to change the tack of his campaign after the first phase.

Modi has shifted the campaign's focus from his economic record to accusing the Congress of planning to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of disadvantaged tribal groups and Hindu castes.

Reuters