India's remote areas gear up for general election
STORY: Polling officers climbed hills and crossed rivers in the eastern state of Meghalaya, seeking to reach voters around the world's most populous nation.
"There are around seven to eight polling stations which are un-motorable. So, at some of the polling stations, the polling party has to walk, in some of the locations they have to go via boat," said District Election Officer Shivansh Awasthi.
India is set to begin the world's largest general election on Friday (April 19), held in terrain sweeping from the icy Himalayas to humid jungles, with nearly a billion people eligible to choose 543 members of the lower house of parliament.
Opinion polls suggest an easy victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party when the results are announced on June 4.
