The first phase of India's mammoth six-week general election came to an end on Thursday evening. About 139.7 million people, including differently abled and transgender people, cast their vote.

With 900 million of India's 1.3 billion people registered to vote, it is the world's largest democratic exercise. Over the course of the election, 543 Lok Sahba seats will be decided from about a million polling stations across India.

With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their frontman, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won a clear majority in 2014 elections. Under the leadership of political dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi, India's National Congress party, which ruled the country for more than half a century since the 1947 independence, has struggled to coalesce India's many opposition parties into a coherent effort that could go head-to-head with the BJP.

Surveys show the ruling party projected to come out first again in this year's polls, though with a smaller mandate.