Campaigning for Lok Sabha poll ends in Delhi

New Delhi: The election campaign for all seven Lok Sabha constituencies came to an end on Friday evening with polling scheduled for May 12. The three major political parties, after a hectic round of campaigning in the last couple of weeks, made all efforts to woo the voters in their constituencies as they would not be allowed to campaign, take out processions or to address rallies during the silence period, which has now come into play.

The campaign which got off to a slow start as alliance talks between the AAP and Congress lingered on till the last days of nomination gained momentum over the last fortnight with senior leaders drawing huge crowds at mega rallies and road shows in the national Capital.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a massive rally at the iconic Ramlila Maidan, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress addressing two public meetings, while his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking out two road shows in the city, the campaign gained momentum. BSP supremo Mayawati, BJP President Amit Shah, too, canvassed for their party candidates.

Calling itself way ahead of its opponents, the Congress and the BJP, Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says it has not left out any possible means of communication to reach out to voters. The party started working for the Lok Sabha battle even when the elections were not the main topic of discussion in the country.

"We did door-to-door campaigns, rallies, public and indoor meetings and one-to-one communication with 35 lakh people at the micro level. Roadshows, nukkad nataks, we did metro campaigns, to list a few," AAP Delhi chief Gopal Rai said. AAP candidates Balbir Singh Jakhar, Atishi, Guggan Singh, Raghav Chadha, Dilip Pandey, Pankaj Gupta and Brijesh Goyal are in fray.

Putting all their effort, all seven Congress candidates Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken, JP Agarwal, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Rajesh Lilothia, Mahabal Mishra and Vijender Singh held road shows in their areas. "Candidates of BJP and AAP are mainly outsiders while the Congress party candidates are from the city. They know issues very well as they are active on ground since decades. The voters' mood is in favour of Congress this time as the are fed up with the theatrical politics of both BJP and AAP in Centre as well as Delhi," said Congress' West Delhi candidate Mahabal Mishra.

On the last day of campaigning, all of BJP's seven candidates in Delhi took out roadshows in the Capital city, to wrap up their respective campaigns. Harsh Vardhan, Meenakshi Lekhi, Manoj Tiwari, Hansraj Hans, Parvesh Verma, Gautam Gambhir, and Ramesh Bidhuri stopped at nothing for a final appeal to voters before May 12.

Manoj Tiwari, the BJP candidate from the North East Delhi and Delhi BJP President, used all his energy to contact the people through Road Show and Nukkad Sabhas in his Lok Sabha Constituency. BJP Candidates Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk, Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi, Pravesh Sahib Singh from West Delhi, Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi, Hansraj Hans from North West, made every possible effort in the urban and rural areas for contacting voters. While the candidates focused on connecting with voters, saffron party leaders like Vijender Gupta continued to hold press briefings to launch attacks at opposition parties Congress and AAP alike.

Manoj Tiwari said that BJP is the only party which has worked tirelessly for resolving the issue of sealing in Delhi. Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have only politicized this issue but in actual they haven't done anything.

Lekhi at her roadshow addressed supporters and said that she is confident of a win in the upcoming polls and is sure that opposition members will be defeated by a large number. In a Twitter Chaupal, Harsh Vardhan said I want that all the political parties should rise above party politics and understand the sufferings of the people and solve their problems.

As the polling day is around the corner, senior officers in the district have briefed police personnel to not openly or privately align for or against any political party or group. Police sources told Millennium Post that senior officers in their morning briefings told their personnel regarding the ECI's instruction for compliance general conduct during Lok Sabha Election.

The Delhi Police has beefed up security in parts of the national capital ahead of the May 12 polling and will deploy over 60,000 personnel to ensure smooth conduct of the election here. All liquor shops, clubs, bars, and other such establishments will remain closed in the city from Friday evening to 6 pm on Sunday.