NEW DELHI, May 8: Campaigning to elect India's 14th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday as opinion polls predicted a hung parliament with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forming the largest bloc and the Congress-led coalition throwing a serious challenge.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA is believed to need roughly half the 182 seats that go to vote on Monday to get the magic figure of 272, a tough call.

Elections will be held in the remaining 18 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, 17 of 29 in Madhya Pradesh and the last two seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

Polling would also be held for all the seats in left-dominated West Bengal (42), Tamil Nadu (39), Kerala (20), Punjab (13), Haryana (10), Delhi (seven), Uttaranchal (five), Himachal Pradesh (four) and one each in Lakshadweep, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, Assam (Silchar) and Sikkim.

An opinion poll by NDTV ahead of the final phase said the NDA is likely to slip from its improved position given by the exit poll of the penultimate phase and move further away from the majority mark.

Young Congress leader Rahul Gandhi campaigned in Rampur for Begum Noor Bano, a royal member of the former princely state. He said honestly that he had no magic wand to pull up the Congress fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, but hinted that the next elections would make the difference.

The national projection by the opinion poll gave NDA 240-260 seats, scaling down its exit poll after the previous round of polling which had given the alliance 245-265 seats.

The survey showed Congress and allies moving further ahead with 190-210 seats as against the figure of 185-205 given by the NDTV's exit poll projections on May 5 after the previous phase of polling.

The NDTV opinion poll gives 90-110 seats to others after the final phase, the same as projected by channel's exit polls on May 5.

The opinion poll shows BJP-led alliance and Congress and allies finishing almost at par, 67 and 68 seats respectively, in the 182 seats contesting in the final phase of polling is concerned.

The survey shows BJP making marginal gains in the final phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh by securing nine of the 18 seats, a gain of two over 1999, and Congress suffering major reverse getting just two seats, a loss of four from the previous elections.

It gives four Uttar Pradesh seats to Samajwadi Party-RLD alliance and three to the Bhojan Samajwadi Party (BSP).

According to the opinion poll, Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala is likely to finish with 14 out of a total of 20 seats, a gain of three over 1999, whereas others, possibly the Left Democratic Front, will get six seats, a decline of three.

As in the 1999 election, the ruling Left Front in West Bengal is poised to bag 29 of the state's 42 while the Trinamool Congress-BJP alliance may get 10 and Congress just three.

The NDTV poll shows the BJP suffering a sharp fall in BJP's tally in Delhi from all the seven seats in 1999 to just three this time while Congress will win four.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Hindutva surge holds in the 17 of the total of 29 seats in the final phase of polling. The BJP is likely to get 15 of those seats, a gain of three over 1999, and Congress will secure two seats, a loss of three, the poll says.

The DMK-led alliance which has Congress in it would get 30 of the 39 seats with AIADMK-BJP combine finishing a poor second with just nine, it says. For DMK and allies, it represents a gain of 17 seats and a decline of 17 for the rival alliance.

The Congress is shown by the opinion poll as making major gains in Haryana, which has a total of 10 seats, winning six seats as against zero in the 1999 elections while BJP and ally are to secure just two seats.

But it is in neighbouring Punjab that the ruling Congress is in for defeat with the opinion poll giving it just two out of the total of 13 seats and 10 to Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance.

Mr Vajpayee ended his campaign in Punjab and his final rally was in Ludhiana. And making a last minute effort to woo voters, he called on people to end dynastic politics, a reference to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

Addressing a rally in Delhi, Ms Gandhi said Mr Vajpayee was getting forgetful. His election promises were not to be trusted.