Modi says India's era of 'mother-son' govt is over

Frontrunner for prime minister Narendra Modi declared an end to India's "mother-son government" as he voted on Wednesday in his party's heartland in the latest stage of the country's mammoth elections.

Voters queued early in 89 constituencies across nine states and territories in the latest leg of staggered voting in the world's biggest election which ends with results announced on May 16.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist hardliner, voted in the city of Ahmedabad in his home state of Gujarat before taking a "selfie" of his inked finger and flashing his party's symbol of the lotus flower to cheering crowds.