The high decibel campaign by political parties for the December 7 Assembly polls, which saw political heavy weights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi criss-crossing the states of Rajasthan and Telangana and addressing rallies, ended on Wednesday.
In Rajasthan, as many as 2,274 candidates including 189 women are in the fray for 199 out of a total 200 constituencies in the state.
There are 4.77 crore registered voters in Rajasthan.
Election in Alwar district’s Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.
Electioneering ended at 5 pm today. Polling will take place from 8 am to 5 pm on December 7 in 199 constituencies, Rajasthan’s chief electoral officer Anand Kumar said.
He said elaborate security arrangements have been made for free and fair polls.
Telangana
Leaders from across political parties, including BJP Chief Amit Shah, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Chief Ministers of various states, Union Ministers and several others conducted election rallies and roadshows to woo voters in Telangana.
Hinting at a possible future political direction, Rahul Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu shared dais for the first time.
Congress formed the “people’s Front” with Telugu Desam Party (TDP), CPI and Professor M Kodandaram-led Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), while the TRS and BJP are going it alone.
CPI(M)-led Bahujan Left Front is also in the fray.
Sonia Gandhi addressed one public meeting, while Modi addressed three election rallies.
Rahul Gandhi threw his weight fully behind the campaign, addressing over a dozen public meetings and road shows.
Highlighting his government’s achievements, Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addressed about 90 meetings, seeking a second term for the TRS.
Mr. Naidu also participated extensively in road shows and meetings, raising the election “fever.”
Mr. Modi in his speeches highlighted the “family rule” of TRS and Congress even as he and Amit Shah maintained that reservations for Muslim Minorities, proposed by the Telangana government, was “anti-constitutional.”
KCR, as Mr. Rao is referred to by many, largely talked about the achievements of his government and slammed Modi for not giving consent to the state’s Muslim quota bill and Congress-TDP for “unholy tie up.”
