India began voting on Friday in a six-week election with an all but assured victory for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a weakened opposition is pushed to the sidelines. A total of 968 million people are eligible to take part in the world’s biggest vote – a staggering logistical exercise that critics say follows a concerted effort to delegitimise rivals. A long and winding queue was patiently assembled outside a polling station in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganges river, even before the booths opened. “I am here because …