Militants in Kashmir and in the remote northeast set off mines and fired at polling stations as India began voting today to elect a new parliament, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens.
Mr Omar Abdullah, chief of disputed Kashmir's pro-India National Conference party, escaped a bid on his life when a landmine exploded minutes after his campaign convoy passed, police said.
A policeman was wounded in the attack on Mr Abdullah, a former junior foreign minister, they said.
A vehicle ran over a landmine in Kashmir's Lolab area, killing one passenger and wounding six other people. Police said the victim had not yet been identified.
Militants also attacked polling stations in Baramulla overnight and hours before polling began, killing two policemen. Kashmiri rebels and political separatists say the election is no substitute for a resolution of the 57-year-old conflict over the Himalayan region, where a revolt has killed tens of thousands.
Separatist guerrillas killed four soldiers, burned electoral rolls and voting machines in the remote northeastern state of Manipur, which borders Burma. The rebels have threatened to kill anyone taking part in the election.
Four more days of polling ending on May 10th are scheduled to allow police and troops to move across the vast nation to ensure security during the vote. The votes will be counted on May 13th.
Police today killed a suspected leftist guerrilla outside a voting booth in the impoverished eastern state of Jharkhand where the radical leftist Maoist Communist Centre has called for an election boycott.
Elections in India are regularly accompanied by violence. At least 35 people were killed during elections in 1999 and 64 died in polls the previous year.