Ahmedabad: A hectic campaigning for the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies of Gujarat, where polling will be held in a single phase on April 30, ended today, with BJP aiming for a clean sweep banking on the ‘Modi factor’ and Congress fighting back to deny it a walk-over. (India Votes 2014: full Coverage)
As many as 413 candidates are in the fray in the state, including the Chief Minister and BJP’s PrimeMinisterial candidate Narendra Modi (from Vadodara) and veteran BJP leader L K Advani (Gandhinagar).
Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry is challenging Mr Modi in Vadodara, while senior leader Shankarsinh Vaghela is contesting from Sabarkantha.
AAP, striving to emerge as the third alternative, has fielded candidates in 24 constituencies. AAP leaderArvind Kejriwal undertook ‘a fact-finding’ tour of the state earlier this month, targeting Mr Modi over his development claims.
A total of 4.05 crore voters (2.12 crore male and 1.93 crore female) are eligible to exercise franchise in the state across 45,380 polling stations.
BJP’s campaign was centred around the fact that Mr Modi, “a son of the soil”, was BJP’s candidate for the top job.
Invoking Gujarati pride, it is seeking to win all the 26 seats.
Mr Modi campaigned in the state extensively after the completion of sixth phase on April 24.
He sought votes saying that it was time a Gujarati became the PM, and appealed the people to sent “26 lotuses” to the Parliament without looking at individual candidates. On the last day today, Mr Modi addressed six rallies in Ahmedabad.
Congress employed its two big guns, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi in the state. Ahmed Patel, Mrs Gandhis’s political secretary, was stationed in the state to manage the campaign for the last few days.
Both Mr Gandhi and Mrs Gandhi questioned Mr Modi’s claims about development in Gujarat.
Considering the symbolic importance of arresting “the Modi wave” in Gujarat, Congress made an all-out effort, especially in the constituencies that were its traditional bastions, making the campaigning interesting.
During the campaign, VHP leader Pravin Togadia was caught on tape advising his supporters to forcibly occupy a home purchased by a Muslim in a Hindu-dominated locality of Bhavnagar.
The incident hogged headlines across the country.
Mr Modi’s acknowledgement of his marriage in his election affidavit, for the first time since he started contesting elections, provided some grist to the opposition’s mill.
Mr Modi hit back strongly, mocking the Gandhis and alleging that the “mother-son” duo were running the government at the Centre.