India by-polls voting begins

Voting has begun in by-elections to 26 assembly seats in eight Indian states and one seat in the national parliament.
Eighteen of the seats are being contested in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
They became necessary after ruling Congress legislators were disqualified for joining a breakaway group.
The other states are Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
A by-election is also being held in the parliamentary constituency of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
In Andhra Pradesh, the ruling Congress party is pitted against the breakaway group YSR Congress, led by MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.