Publicity guns fell silent on Saturday evening as one of the longest drawn election campaigns inIndia drew to a close for the final phase of India's 14th general elections slated for May 10.

As the campaigning ended at 5 p.m., leaders and their supporters fanned out for door-to-door canvassing in a last minutebid to woo an estimated 215.1 million voters who will choose theirrepresentatives from 2,132 contestants, including 149 women.

In the final phase of elections, voters will decide the fate of182 seats out of 543 seats in the parliament in 16 states and union territories on Monday.

With the latest poll surveys projecting the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) just short of majority in the 543-memberlower house of the Indian parliament, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used his last election rally in the border state of Punjab to highlight his government's efforts to normalize ties with Pakistan.

"We will talk with Pakistan on all issues," he said and accusedthe opposition of having conducted a negative campaign and hurlingbaseless charges against the government.

Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed her last rally in New Delhi, urging the voters to "throw out the (Vajpayee)government and save the nation." She has crisscrossed the country with a commitment for building a resurgent India that is just and secular.

Local observers say that in the days to come, the Indian festival of democracy that heads for the home stretch with Monday's final round of voting is expected to trigger a mad race for power.

The picture emerging after the final round of polling will be eagerly watched, debated and fought over even before the verdict starts coming out three days later.

Already, elections have been held in 361 constituencies in the last four phases which began on April 20. The Lok Sabha, or the Lower House of Parliament, has 545 members and the government nominates two of them.

Counting of votes will be taken up on May 13 and results are expected same day.

Source: Xinhua