The world’s biggest democratic exercise got under way this morning as India began voting in a marathon month-long general election that looks certain to produce a fragile coalition government. The vote is the first of five phases in which some 714 million people — more than twice the population of the United States — will be eligible to cast ballots. More than 140 million were eligible to vote on Thursday.The outcome of the five-stage election will be known on May 16.
Up to 2.1 million security personnel have been deployed to prevent another terrorist attack like the one on Mumbai in November.Unlike in many Western democracies, the number of Indians voting has increased with every general election. And poorer people are more likely to vote than the rich.
