India election: Final votes cast in world's biggest poll
Some 900 million Indians have been eligible to vote in the ballot which is seen as a referendum on Narendra Modi's five-year rule.
Sunday 19 May 2019 12:27, UK
Voters in India have gone to the polls in the final stage of the world's biggest general election to decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns for a second term.
Around 900 million people have been eligible to vote in the mammoth seven-phase ballot, spread out across 39 days.
The last round of elections alone, covering 59 seats in eight states, saw more than 100 million Indians able to vote.
Votes are due to be counted and the result announced on Thursday, 23 May.
The staggered election is seen as a referendum on Mr Modi's five-year rule.
Held against a backdrop of heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, the poll has been used by Mr Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to focus on national security.
The main opposition Congress party and other political rivals have sought to put the spotlight on the government's economic record and accusations of mismanagement.
Mr Modi's move to curb black-market cash and bring a large number of people into the tax net has proved to be economically damaging, while other measures have also hit small and medium-sized businesses.
With the campaign turning increasingly nasty and clashes between factions in places, the final wave of voting saw tight security with thousands of extra police deployed and rapid response teams put on standby in case of trouble.
India's parliament has a total of 545 seats, out of which the BJP won 272 at the last general election in 2014 to secure a single-party majority for the first time in around three decades.
The well-funded BJP has dominated much of the campaign, allowing Mr Modi to set the agenda.
His decision to bomb an alleged militant training camp in Pakistan, soon after a suicide attack in the disputed Kashmir region killed at least 40 policemen, bolstered his support.
Despite this, the drawn-out race has continued to tighten.
Opinion polls indicate no party is likely to win anything close to a majority in parliament with 543 seats.
The BJP may need the support of some regional parties to stay in power.
Voter turnout in the first six rounds was around 66%, the country's election commission said, up slightly from 58% in the last national vote in 2014.