People queue up outside a polling booth in Madhya Pradesh
The BJP is aiming for a third straight term in Madhya Pradesh, where polling is taking place in 230 assembly constituencies.
Here are the latest developments:
An hour into voting, there was firing at a polling station in Bhind, one of the most sensitive areas in the state. Shots were reportedly fired in the air, which caused panic among those who had arrived to vote. (Full coverage)
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is contesting from two constituencies, Vidisha and Budhni.
It is a politically crucial contest for union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is leading the Congress campaign in the state where the party has been out of power for 10 years.
Mr Scindia's aunt, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, is the BJP candidate from Shivpuri, which is a part of his Lok Sabha constituency Guna, a bastion of the former Scindia royal family.
Among other prominent candidates are Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's son Jaivardhan, who is making his political debut at the family bastion of Raghogarh.
Over 4.6 crore people are eligible to vote in the state, which is among the five going to polls in what is being seen as the semi-final round before the national election due by May.
The December 8 verdict of these state polls will also be the first test for Narendra Modi since he was chosen the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in September.
In three constituencies in Maoist-affected Balaghat district, voting began an hour earlier, at 7 am, and will end at 3 pm.
For the first time, the None Of The Above (NOTA) option is available to voters.
In the 2008 polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 143 seats while the Congress won 71.
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