Indians turned out in steady numbers Thursday to pick a new federal government in a mammoth month-long general election. But suspected Maoist insurgents marred the balloting in several areas with deadly attacks.
The elections, covering more than 3 million square kilometers of the planet, will run until next month in several stages of scattered polling. Then elections officials will count the vote electronically in a single day -- on May 16, three days after the last round of polling.
It is an exercise India undertakes every five years for its 1 billion-plus population. This year the country is voting in 543 boroughs of the Lok Sabha, or the lower house of the Indian parliament. 
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All About Manmohan Singh • India
