Campaigning for state polls ends in India

Political parties and candidates pulled back from electioneering in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi city at 5:00 pm (1130 GMT), in line with orders of India's autonomous Election Commission.

India's electoral code allows campaigning up to 48 hours before voting, and bans politicians or their parties from participating in radio or television chat shows after the deadline.

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"From now on they can meet voters only in a one-to-one contact," a Commission official said as India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recalled its top leaders from the campaign trail.

Indian main opposition Congress party also wound up its street rallies in line with the deadline.

Electioneering by the BJP and Congress was among the liveliest in India's electoral history with the two bitter foes pulling out all stops to discredit each other ahead of Monday's vote.

The polls are seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the BJP ahead of general elections in 2004.

Some 94 million voters are eligible to choose from 5,348 candidates in the fray across the four states.