Hundreds of millions of votes cast, more than six weeks of polling, and billions of dollars spent: India on Tuesday will declare a new leader after a mammoth nationwide election that has become a referendum on the last decade of leadership by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The first of India's almost one billion voters cast ballots on Friday in the country's multi-day election, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a rare third term on the back of issues such as growth, welfare and Hindu nationalism.

The vote pits Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of two dozen opposition parties that promise greater affirmative action and more handouts while stressing what they call the need to save democratic institutions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his power at home secured and his Hindu-first vision deeply entrenched, has set his sights in recent years on a role as a global statesman, riding India’s economic and diplomatic rise. In doing so, he has distanced himself from his party’s staple work of polarizing India’s diverse population along religious lines for its own electoral gain.

The greatest exercise of democracy in the history of mankind — by the numbers, at least — kicked off Friday as almost 1 billion people began casting votes for the next leader and government of India.

In 2023, India overtook China as the world’s most populous country, with 1.4 billion citizens. Up for grabs in its elections are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, which translates to “House of the People,” the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

Last summer, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood next to President Biden in the White House and said regarding India’s democracy, “there is absolutely no space for discrimination.” He was speaking during a rare press briefing and was challenged by an American journalist on concerns regarding India’s democratic values and discrimination against its Muslim citizens. Over the weekend, in an election campaign rally in northwest India, Modi referred to Muslims as “infiltrators.” His critics have called it hate speech.

Ramesh Singh had been waiting for this day for five years. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it a tradition to kick off general election campaigns in Mr. Singh’s city, and this year was no different. So the sugarcane farmer joined the adoring throngs, who are all but guaranteed to deliver Mr. Modi a resounding third-term victory in elections that begin Friday. 

Narendra Modi on Monday presided over the consecration of a Hindu temple on the site of a destroyed mosque, delighting millions of his supporters but drawing criticism from opponents who said India’s leader was flouting the country’s secular constitutional principles. Business leaders, celebrities and film stars joined the ceremony rich in pomp and symbolism that marked the opening of the first phase of the Ram Mandir shrine in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, a northern state ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historical mosque in the flashpoint city of Ayodhya. 

The temple, which is still under construction, is dedicated to the Hindu god Lord Ram and fulfils a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus who worship the revered deity. 

About 80 chartered flights have landed at the new international airport of India’s holy city of Ayodhya for Monday’s partial opening of the controversial grand temple for one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, Lord Ram.

Ayodhya’s airport can barely accommodate the influx of private jets. “The planes will depart after dropping guests,” airport manager Saurabh Singh said.

The temple was built over a razed mosque, and most political opposition leaders are boycotting the temple’s opening, saying it doesn’t befit a secular India.