By Ravi Velloor, South Asia Bureau Chief

NEW DELHI: The curtains will close on India's month-long national election - widely regarded as too close to call - with voters today poised to pick the last 86 members of India's 543-seat Lower House of Parliament.

Formal campaigning ended at 5pm on Monday in the five-stage poll, which has seen a record 8,070 candidates in the fray, as opposed to 5,435 contestants in the 2004 polls.

Of the nearly 714 million people eligible to cast ballots, 100 million are first-time voters.

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