The din and bustle of more than two months of electioneering characterised often by mudslinging came to a close and political parties across the country made their final pitch.

With polling for 361 of the 543 constituencies over in the first four phases, an estimated 215 million voters are expected to exercise their franchise in 182 constituencies in the last round bringing the curtains down on the world's biggest democratic exercise that began on April 20.

The highest number of constituencies to go to poll in a single state today is in West Bengal home to 42 parliamentary seats. Among the prominent candidates in the state are senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee seeking his first electoral win, his party colleagues ABA Ghani Khan Choudhary and Priyan Rajnan Dasmunshi, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and her party colleague Ajit Kumar Panja and veteran CPI (M) leader Somnath Chattejree.

The final day of electioneering saw all parties wheeling out their star campaigners in a frantic eleventh-hour attempt to woo the voters in the backdrop of opinion/exit polls forecasting a photo finish to the race for the victory tape.

For National Democratic Alliance, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee wrapped up the campaign with rallies in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh exhorting the voters to keep the need for political stability for development and to judge its performance in the last six years.

Vajpayee has all through emphasised the need for two-thirds majority for NDA to pursue major development projects and also asked the opposition to spell out what kind of an alternative it is capable of providing and who its leader will be.

The prime minister also called for an end to dynastic politics and urged NDA supporters not to sit at home on the polling day and come out and vote.

On the other hand, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wound up her spirited campaign by addressing a rally in Delhi in which she accused Vajpayee of "double speak", his government of indulging in scams in various fields, including defence purchases.

She alleged the country cannot be safe in the hands of those who took kickbacks even in the purchase of coffins for soldiers. "Enough is enough. Now is the time to change the government at the Centre and create history. We have to create a new India," she added.

Vajpayee's senior party colleagues LK Advani, deputy prime minister, and M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP president, focussed on the southern state of Tamil Nadu where a good show by NDA is a must to help to reach the majority mark of 272 seats.

The finale of the campaign also saw Sonia's son Rahul Gandhi launching his election road-show in Muslim-dominated Rampur constituency of Uttar Pradesh where she charged Samajwadi Party headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav with helping BJP.