Here are top 10 points on this big story:

The first phase of polls is being held on all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Rajasthan (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1). Besides, there will be five seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, four in Bihar, three in West Bengal, two in Manipur, and one each in Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh.

Four states -- Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- will also pick new assemblies alongside this Lok Sabha election. Of these, Arunachal Pradesh (60 seats) and Sikkim (32) are first down today.

At 9 am, two hours after polling began, Tamil Nadu had recorded 8.2 per cent turnout, Rajasthan 10.7 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 12.2 per cent and Madhya Pradesh 14.1 per cent. The average turnout recorded across 102 seats today was 9.7 per cent at 9 am.  

Backed by a high-octane campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP is aiming to win 370 of 543 Lok Sabha seats - a steep rise from its score of 2019. The Prime Minister has set the NDA a target of 400. In the last election, the NDA won 353 seats -- up by 5 per cent from 2014. The BJP won 303 seats.

The Opposition bloc INDIA, which mostly made headlines over its disarray in the run-up to the polls -- especially with the defection of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- has been standing together following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. Even so, in multiple pockets, the parties are up against each other, flouting the rule of one-on-one contests they guaranteed would push the BJP out.