Voting begins in the last round of India’s election, a referendum on Modi’s decade in power

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and KRUTIKA PATHI
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indians have begun voting in the last round of a six-week-long national election that is a referendum on the country’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decade in power. The election will test the limits of his political dominance as he seeks a third-straight victory. The seventh round of voting in 57 constituencies across seven states and one union territory will complete polling for all 543 seats in the powerful lower house of parliament. Most polls show Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party leading over the broad opposition alliance that’s challenging them. The votes will be counted on Tuesday, with results expected by the end of the day.