Political heavyweights criss-crossed eastern Uttar Pradesh to woo voters in 59 seats going to the polls on Tuesday in the seventh and final phase of the assembly elections.
LUCKNOW: Political heavyweights criss-crossed eastern Uttar Pradesh to woo voters in 59 seats going to the polls on Tuesday in the seventh and final phase of the assembly elections, campaigning for which ended on Sunday.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Yogi Adityanath and actor-turned-Congress MP Govinda hit the road, addressing meetings and seeking votes for candidates of their parties.
Campaigning for this phase reached a crescendo with political bigwigs taking to the skies in helicopters. At a number of rallies, pilots at times failed to locate the right location and almost took VIP passengers to the wrong venue.
While Yadav addressed an election rally at Kauri Ram in Gorakpur district, Advani, Rajnath, Swaraj and Adityanath campaigned in various areas of the district. Govinda wooed voters for his party in Chillupar.
Prominent among those whose fate will be decided in the polls on Tuesday are state Ministers Ambika Chaudhary, Sitaram Nishad, Shardanand Anchal and Balram Yadav and several senior leaders of the ruling Samajwadi Party.
Mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, Amar Mani Tripathi, the main accused in the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla, and don-turned-minister Harishankar Tewari are also in the fray.
The chief minister addressed over four dozen election meetings in different constituencies during his campaign while MP Rahul Gandhi, the Congress's star campaigner, held roadshows and addressed meetings across the state.
BSP chief and former chief minister Mayawati was the lone campaigner for her party, sweating it out in the sweltering heat as she addressed several rallies.
Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi too addressed meetings in Gorakhpur, Deoria and Ballia.
The longest and perhaps the most arduous assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are witnessing a keen tussle among the four main parties, the Samajwadi Pparty, BJP, BSP and Congress.
With the absence of any emotive issues in the polls, parties are banking on star campaigners to score over their rivals.
The two main features of the polling in the last six phases have been an extremely low turnout, especially in urban areas, and the absence of incidents of violence or booth capturing.
The Election Commission deployed over 65,000 central paramilitary personnel to ensure free and fair polling and won laurels from the common folks.
The state police was reduced to maintaining law and order well away from polling centres and thwarting possible attempts by criminals to indulge in rigging.
The poll panel, however, received flak for large-scale irregularities in electoral rolls, with complaints pouring in to the Commission in this regard.
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