Test for Modi as UP votes

Millions of voters in India's most populous state cast their ballots yesterday in a contest seen as a key test for Narendra Modi halfway through his first term as prime minister.

Uttar Pradesh is home to over 200 million people -- more than the entire population of Brazil -- and polls in the battleground state are a bellwether of national politics.

This election is seen as a referendum on Modi's controversial ban on high-value banknotes, a move aimed at combating tax evasion by the rich that has hit poor rural communities hard.

The northern state voted overwhelmingly for Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 general election, powering him to victory over the Congress Party that has dominated Indian politics since independence.

But now the BJP faces a major challenge from the youthful and charismatic current Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who has tapped into the pain from Modi's cash ban to try and swing the state his way.

"Modi must answer the people. His credibility will come into question, and that is why he is panicking," Yadav told reporters Saturday in the state capital Lucknow.

"This result is going to give him a big jolt."

Voting will be staggered over several weeks, with results out on March 11, and pollsters put the BJP neck and neck with Yadav's Samajwadi Party and alliance partner Congress.

Congress, whose 46-year-old likely next leader Rahul Gandhi has campaigned alongside Yadav, desperately needs a win after a dismal performance in 2014.

Both Modi and Gandhi -- scion of the family that has dominated the Congress party for generations -- have their seats in Uttar Pradesh, underscoring the importance of the electorally pivotal state.

With so much at stake halfway through his term, Modi has personally led the campaigning for his party instead of relying on a local face.

The first phase saw queues snaking from polling booths and Indians emerging with their fingers inked as proof they voted.

High turnouts were reported, with roughly half the 26 million voters eligible in this round casting a ballot by mid afternoon, the Election Commission of India said.

There were no major disturbances reported, and extra security deployed to hotspots like Muzaffarnagar where soldiers guarded the western district's nearly 900 polling booths.