Indian Lok Sabha Polls Enter Last Phase

India is voting on Saturday in the final phase of a long-drawn general election, held in record summer heat in many parts, as both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his challengers said they would win the polls centred mostly on inequality and religion.

The seven-phase vote, in which nearly a billion people were eligible to cast their ballots, began on April 19 and will end with polling in the last 57 seats - including in Modi's constituency in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi.

More than 100 million people are registered to vote across eight states and federal territories today, including in the northern state of Punjab and the eastern states of Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.

Meanwhile, scorching summer temperatures with unusually high heatwaves have compounded voter fatigue in the majority-Hindu country of 1.4 billion people, where unemployment and inflation are the main concerns for voters.

Nearly two dozen election officials died of suspected heatstroke in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the vote on Friday.