Indians vote despite rebel threats

Published April 17, 2014
A child holds on to the sari of her grandmother standing in a queue to cast her vote in Rajnandgaon, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, now the center of India's four-decade Maoist insurgency.
A child holds on to the sari of her grandmother standing in a queue to cast her vote in Rajnandgaon, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, now the center of India's four-decade Maoist insurgency.
An Indian man walks out after casting his vote in Haati village on the outskirts of Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, India, Thursday.
An Indian man walks out after casting his vote in Haati village on the outskirts of Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, India, Thursday.
An Indian man casts his vote on the outskirts of Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, India, Thursday.
An Indian man casts his vote on the outskirts of Jaipur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, India, Thursday.
A child accompanies her grandfather casting his vote at a polling station in the India-Pakistan border village of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Thursday.
A child accompanies her grandfather casting his vote at a polling station in the India-Pakistan border village of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Thursday.
A polling officer marks the finger of a voter with indelible ink at the India-Pakistan border area of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
A polling officer marks the finger of a voter with indelible ink at the India-Pakistan border area of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
An Indian woman walks out of a polling station with the help of crutches after casting her vote at the India-Pakistan border area of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
An Indian woman walks out of a polling station with the help of crutches after casting her vote at the India-Pakistan border area of Kathua, in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Indians wait in queues outside a polling station to cast their votes in Shahbazpur Dor village in Amroha, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday.
Indians wait in queues outside a polling station to cast their votes in Shahbazpur Dor village in Amroha, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Thursday.

Indians cast ballots Thursday on the biggest day of voting in the country's weeks long general election, streaming into polling stations even in areas where rebels threatened violence over the plight of India's marginalized and poor. The state of Chhattisgarh itself was formed only in 2000, carved from its western neighbor Madhya Pradesh based on its large tribal population.

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