Indian premier Manmohan Singh, whose ruling Congress party is trailing in election opinion polls, has suffered another blow with his half-brother opting to support the Hindu nationalist opposition, according to media reports Saturday.

"I feel very sad. I have no control. They are all adults," Singh told reporters in New Delhi, responding to the news as India's marathon general election heads into its final stretch.

Two soldiers and three suspected rebels died in a gunbattle in restive Indian Kashmir, police said Saturday, soon after the killing of a poll official in India's marathon general elections.

Violence has spiked in the disputed Himalayan region since the start of the staggered parliamentary polls earlier this month as rebels have sought to discourage locals from turning out at the ballot box, police say.

The death toll from an ambush by Maoist rebels rose to eight in an insurgency-hit region of eastern India, police said Friday after the latest deadly attack targeting ongoing elections.

Maoist rebels killed five police officers and three polling officials Thursday as they were returning from duty in Jharkhand, one of 12 states where voters went to the polls in India's multi-phased general elections .

Indian Kashmir headed to the polls under the shadow of violent threats from militants on Thursday in the latest stage of the country's five-week election that sees 180 million people eligible to vote.

Residents of India's financial and entertainment capital Mumbai also cast ballots, as did constituents in the electorally significant southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Pakistan said Wednesday it was "encouraged" by comments from arch rival India's election frontrunner Narendra Modi who stressed cooperation with foreign governments if he was elected prime minister.

Hindu nationalist hardliner Modi and his opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party are expected to vault to power at mammoth elections underway in India after a decade of center-left Congress party rule.

At least 30 fearful local officials have resigned in Indian Kashmir after rebels killed two colleagues and issued a warning against voting this week in the country's elections, residents said Wednesday.

Militants killed two local officials and another man in Indian Kashmir before issuing a warning to Kashmiris against voting this week in the country's mammoth election, police and residents said Tuesday.

The militants targeted two village council heads in separate attacks late on Monday in Pulwana district south of the main city of Srinagar, a senior police officer said.

With a tight budget and a humble autorickshaw, a pioneering Indian transgender is campaigning in her southern hometown for a seat in parliament, just days after the country's highest court recognized "third gender" people.

Describing the Supreme Court judge's ruling as a "milestone", 53-year-old Bharathi Kannamma hopes to build on the momentum and overturn prejudices against India's several million transgenders.

India hosted its biggest day of voting Thursday with the ruling Congress party battling to stem a further slide in the polls against the opposition Hindu nationalists after another week of damaging headlines.

Voters lined up in 121 constituencies across a dozen states on the sixth day of staggered voting in the election extravaganza which ends with results May 16.

India hosted its biggest day of voting on Thursday with the ruling Congress party battling to stem a further slide in the polls against the opposition Hindu nationalists after another week of damaging headlines.

Voters lined up at 7:00 am (01:30 GMT) in 121 constituencies across a dozen states on the sixth day of staggered voting in the election extravaganza which ends with results on May 16.