New Delhi, April 16 (Inditop) India’s staggered parliamentary elections began Thursday morning in 124 constituencies spread across 17 states and union territories.

Polling centres opened at 7 a.m. in Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Andaman and Nicobar Island and Lakshwadeep and in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa and Jharkhand.

Votes polled in the April-May elections to pick a new 545-seat Lok Sabha would be counted May 16.