India is set to begin a mammoth six-week voting exercise to elect a new parliament amid high unemployment, conflict with Pakistan, and debates about its future as a secular nation.

Prayuth Chan-ocha led the 2014 military coup and will now lead the country as civilian prime minister after this week’s parliamentary vote. But the military will still dominate politics.

The Giant of Africa’s next president will have to contend with daunting security and economic challenges.