Maoist rebels killed three soldiers guarding polling officials in central India on Wednesday, highlighting security concerns in the world's biggest elections as the second phase of voting got under way. The rebels staged the attack in the country's insurgency-wracked centre one day ahead of polling in Chhattisgarh state as voters in the restive north-east of the country cast their ballots.
Elsewhere election frontrunner Narendra Modi waved to thousands of supporters of his opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he filed his papers to stand from the Vadodara constituency in western Gujarat. "Citizens of Vadodara have given me a grand welcome and I thank them," the hardline Hindu nationalist, widely tipped to emerge as prime minister when results are published on May 16, told reporters. The BJP is expected to sweep to power at the elections for the 543-seat parliament at a time of low economic growth as well as seething anger over corruption and rising food prices. In central Chhattisgarh, police said rebels attacked a convoy of paramilitary commandos as they were returning from escorting election officials to a polling station, about 415 kilometres (260 miles) south of state capital Raipur. "In a gun battle with the Maoists, three commandos of the central paramilitary forces were killed in Chintagufa area," chief of the state's anti-Maoist operations Rajinder Kumar Vij told AFP. Three soldiers were also injured.