New Delhi, Delhi, India

Campaign for general elections in New Zealand began on Sunday as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is looking forward to riding popularity for the nation's COVID-19 response and compassionate handling of a massacre at two mosques to a revived mandate.

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The parliament in New Zealand was dissolved in a brief ceremony for the official start of campaigning for the elections that are set to be held on October 17. 

Polls in Auckland were delayed for a month in August due to lockdown after cases re-emerged. Auckland constitutes nearly a third of New Zealand's population. 

In 2017, Ardern became the world's youngest female leader. Her decisive response to the pandemic and handling of last year's shooting by a white supremacist at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand's worst mass murder will play a major role in this year's election. 

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According to recent polls, Labour Party has a strong lead over the conservative National Party.

The advanced voting will begin on October 3.