People queue up to vote in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh
Voting has begun in 121 constituencies spread across 12 states in the fifth and biggest round of India's nine-phase national elections. (
Elections: full coverage)
Nandan Nilekani,
Maneka Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Union minister Veerappa Moily, Supriya Sule and Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti are among the 1,769 candidates in the fray in fifth phase of election. (
Read: top 10 heavyweights in phase 5)
Of the total seats, Congress has 36 while its main challenger, the BJP, has 40.
Voting is taking place in 28 seats in Karnataka, followed by Rajasthan (20), Maharashtra (19), Uttar Pradesh and Odisha (11 each), Madhya Pradesh (10), Bihar (seven), Jharkhand (six), West Bengal (four), Chhattisgarh (three), Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur (one each). (
10 big fights: featuring Nandan Nilekani, Lalu's daughter)
Out of 28 seats in Karnataka, BJP has 18 sitting MPs, Congress eight and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) one.
People are also voting in four constituencies of West Bengal namely Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar. All the four seats are held by All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), CPI(M), BJP.
A closely-fought contest is anticipated in the Darjeeling constituency between Gorkha Jankumti Morcha-backed BJP candidate S S Ahluwalia and Trinamool Congress candidate
Baichung Bhutia, the two representing the two sides of a bitter war over statehood for the hills.
So far, polling has been held in 111 constituencies in four phases. In the last substantial round 91 seats went to polls on April 10.