The high-voltage campaign for the third and last phase of Lok Sabha elections for Maharashtra’s 19 seats, including six from Mumbai, ended on Tuesday.
From rallies to corner meetings and bike rallies to indoor discussions, all major candidates from different political parties left no stone unturned to reach out to voters on the last day of campaigning.
The campaigns of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from North-East Mumbai, Kirit Somaiya, and the Congress candidate from North-West Mumbai, Gurudas Kamat, ended on a high note with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar holding rallies for their respective candidates.
Bollywood actor-director and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s candidate from North-West Mumbai, Mahesh Manjrekar, held a meeting with the film fraternity seeking their support. Another party candidate from South Mumbai, Bala Nandgaonkar, held a bike rally to culminate his campaign on Tuesday.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Mayank Gandhi, however, could not campaign on the last day due to his father’s sudden demise on Monday night.
Another AAP candidate and social activist Medha Patkar, who cancelled her scheduled press conference at the last moment on Tuesday, spent her day campaigning in the slums of Mankhurd area from her constituency.
BJP’s Poonam Mahajan, who is banking on infighting within the Congress to win the Mumbai North Central seat, sought support from leaders of different communities on the last day. Her opponent Priya Dutt held several corner meetings and padyatras across her constituency.
In one of the fiercely fought constituencies in Mumbai, the present Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad is facing the challenge of both the Shiv Sena and the MNS in Mumbai South Central seat.
Mr. Gaikwad, who is confident of winning the seat yet again, is banking on the votes from the slum city of Dharavi, spent his day ensuring his vote bank remains intact.
Sitting Congress MP Milind Deora, too, chose to end his campaign in the Nagpada area of South Mumbai constituency, making sure that the traditional Congress voters remain with the party.
