Indian voters are battling sweltering conditions to take part in the world's biggest election as a severe heat wave hits parts of the country and authorities forecast a hotter-than-normal summer for the South Asian nation.

The India Meteorological Department said a heat wave will affect parts of south and east India until the end of the week, including four states that are voting on Friday.

Gandhi Ray, a farmer in his 60s from eastern Bihar state, said he lives in a small hut in the forest, and will walk to a nearby village to vote. Temperatures above 41 C (105 F) are forecast every day until May 1 in his hometown of Banka district, according to the IMD.

"It's important for me to vote but definitely every day this heat is getting worse and worse," he told CNN. "I work outdoors mostly so I am used to it but as I get older it becomes harder to cope. Now my kids have taken over most of the work."

Read more at the link in our bio.

📷: Sudipta Das/NurPhoto/Getty Images