Voters across swaths of southern India began queuing up early on Thursday in the second phase of a mammoth, staggered general election in which opposition parties are trying to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from winning a second term. More than 155 million people are eligible to vote in the second phase, which covers 95 parliament constituencies in 12 states including parts of restive Jammu and Kashmir. The focus will be on the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where the main opposition Congress party and its allies need to win big if they hope to oust Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Those seats that you lose, you’ll have to make up somewhere." Sircar also said the BJP would be looking to make gains in Karnataka.

Source: The Star April 18, 2019 06:00 UTC