Voter gets his finger inked as he is processed moments before marking his ballot at a local polling station in Varanasi on May 12, 2014.
Voting in the world's biggest democratic exercise wraps up today when the final phase of India's general election takes place.
The following are some of the key dates in the contest:
March 5: Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath announces that elections to the 543-member parliament will begin on April 7, with the results to be announced nearly six weeks later. Some 81.4 crore adults will be eligible to vote, 10 crore more than last time in 2009. (Read more...)
March 11: Maoist rebels opposed to the elections kill 16 people in a massive attack on security forces in the central state of Chhattisgarh.
April 7: The election gets underway with voters in six remote northeastern constituencies going to the polls, mostly in the tea-growing state of Assam.
April 9: Opposition leader and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi acknowledges for the first time that he is married in an election affidavit. His brother later confirms that Mr Modi was betrothed to a now-retired teacher when they were teenagers. (Read more...)
April 10: Voting takes place in the capital New Delhi on the first major day of the contest. (Also read: Delhi voting shatters record of past three decades)
April 24: Mr Modi draws massive crowds in Varanasi as he files his nomination papers to stand in the holy city on the banks of the Ganga. His challengers include anti-corruption champion Arvind Kejriwal.
May 7:Rahul Gandhi, the frontman of the ruling Congress party, tries to rally supporters by touring booths as voting takes place in his Amethi constituency.
May 12: Final day of the election, with voting taking place in the northern and eastern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. (Last Round of Voting; Varanasi is the Centre of Action)
May 16: Counting due to begin with the final results expected later in the day. Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win the most seats. (The World's Largest Elections: 5 Qs and As)
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