The dust and din came to an end at 5pm when the loudspeakers went silent
as political parties asked their cadre to get on with the job of
door-to-door campaign for persuading the voters.
Egged on by the
massive mandate he got in the Lok Sabha elections just five months ago,
Modi unleashed a poll blitzkrieg addressing over 30 rallies in the two
states where he took on the opposition over dynastic politics and
corruption.
With no local face in Maharashtra which has 288 seats
and Haryana which has 90 seats, the BJP banked heavily on Modi for
campaigning, especially in Maharashtra where it split with its long term
ally, the Shiv Sena.
While he avoided any criticism of Shiv
Sena, Modi came down heavily on both the Congress and NCP, saying they
were highly corrupt and had looted the state for the last 15 years.
Congress on the other hand projected Prithviraj Chavan while NCP Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray.
With
Wednesday's polling in the two states being seen as the first key test
of popularity for major political parties after the Lok Sabha elections,
the BJP left nothing to chance with Modi addressing over 20 rallies in
Maharashtra and 10 in Haryana. Counting of votes will be taken up on
Sunday.
The October 15 elections for the Maharashtra Assembly
will be the first in over quarter of a century when major political
parties are out in the poll arena sans erstwhile alliance partners.
The
last time Shiv Sena and BJP fought separately was before 1989 - the
year their alliance was sealed and for Congress and NCP, it was before
1999 the year the Sharad Pawar-led party was formed. In the 2009 polls,
Cong won 82, NCP won 62, Sena 45 and BJP 47 and MNS 12. Ashok Chavan of
Congress was elected the chief minister.
The campaign in Haryana
saw the Prime Minister targeting Congress exploiting the controversy
surrounding the land deals involving Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert
Vadra, saying it
symbolized the corruption of 10 years of Congress
regime. He sought a majority for BJP, saying a hung assembly will serve
no one's interest.
The other top guns battling it out in Haryana
are the kin of the three famous 'Lals' including jailed former Chief
Minister O P Chautala.
Unlike in the recent past, when the fight
was mainly between Congress and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a number
of new players threw their hats in the ring this time.
However, Congress, BJP and INLD are being seen as the main players, with all three hoping to capture power on their own.
BJP
for the first time in the history of Haryana, which was carved out as a
separate state in 1966, is contesting on all the 90 seats on its own.
Two-time
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, son of veteran freedom fighter
late Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, is seeking re-election from his Garhi
Sampla Kiloi constituency in Rohtak district.
Throughout his
campaign in Haryana, the Prime Minister asked the people to shun the
"families" that have monopolised power in Haryana by forging
"behind-the-scene alliances" for past 25 years.
Congress
President Sonia Gandhi on her part launched a twin-pronged attack on BJP
and INLD, saying they were only out to grab power. She also accused BJP
of being pro-rich and making hollow promises.
In the 2009 elections in Haryana, Congress had won 40 seats, INLD 31, BJP 4 and Independents 7.
Devi
Lal's son former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and the latter's
son Ajay Singh may be out of the contest this time in the wake of their
sentencing in the teachers' recruitment scam last year but prestige is
at stake for the kin who are in fray fighting from the seats represented
by the
jailed leaders.
O P Chautala's another son and senior
INLD leader Abhay Singh is seeking re-election from Ellenabad Assembly
segment. In the absence of the jailed leaders, he faces the tough
challenge to lead his party to victory.
Indicating that it is a
do-or-die battle for the INLD this time, with the party being out of
power for a decade, even O P Chautala, who was out on bail on health
grounds, had joined the campaigning.
INLD is contesting on 88 seats while the remaining two seats are being fought by its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal).
Former
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's younger son and HJC President Kuldeep
Bishnoi has entered the fray from the family's pocket borough Adampur
constituency while Bishnoi's wife Renuka Bishnoi is contesting from
Hansi. Bhajan Lal's elder son and former Deputy Chief Minister Chander
Mohan is contesting from the Nalwa segment.
Bansi Lal's son and
former BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra, daughter-in-law (late
Surender Singh's wife) and Haryana Minister Kiran Choudhary and Lal's
son-in-law Sombir Singh are contesting as Congress candidates from
Badhra, Tosham and Loharu segments in the Bhiwani district.
Among
other top guns in the fray are Haryana Cabinet Minister and Congress's
national spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala, seeking re-election from
Kaithal constituency.
BJP's chief ministerial aspirant state unit
chief Ram Bilas Sharma, party's spokesman Capt Abhimanyu and former RSS
leader Manohar Lal Khattar are in the fray from Mahendergarh, Narnaund
(Hisar) and Karnal assembly segments, respectively.
