Fractious election campaign ends

Modi said he began his election campaign with a rally in Udhampur after a visit to Vaishno Devi in Jammu last year and was ending it in eastern UP's Ballia which had "started the movement towards Swarajya (independence) and today will begin the movement towards Surajya (good governance)". Ballia is the birthplace of Mangal Pandey, the sepoy whose martyrdom in end-March 1857 sparked the revolt a month later on May 10 at Meerut. Ballia is also remembered for its role in the 1942 Quit India movement. Modi, who has been on the road for more than six months, claimed to have covered over three lakh kilometers over the course of his campaign across India and had addressed rallies and public meetings that could be seen at 5,800 places.

But there was no end to the name calling. Modi attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Delhi's intelligentsia and even the Left parties for having practiced politics of "untouchability" against him. He pointed out how everyone who supported him, like Amitabh Bachchan or Lata Mangeshkar or a Muslim MP from Kerala, has been victimized in some manner or the other.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati yet again questioned the veracity of Modi's claim of hailing from a socially and economically backward caste. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said Modi was full of anger and snooped on women. UP CM Yadav said 'MODI' stood for "model of dividing India". Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s Laloo Prasad Yadav averred that Modi was the "chela" or protege of Lal Krishna Advani and just as he (Laloo) had halted Advani's Rath Yatra in 1990, he would also stop Modi's march to Delhi. All of these leaders also attacked each other but in passing, betraying a sense that the election as Laloo put it was between people who were pro-Modi and those who were anti-Modi.

In Varanasi, BJP cried foul for the Returning Officer allowing Rahul's road show through the Beniya Bagh locality, where it had disallowed Modi's rally on Thursday for security reasons. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said it was evident permission to Modi was denied because of political reasons.

Bharat Ratna shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan's family performed during Rahul's road show. The family, however, did not make any political statements of support to the Congress. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas led the roadshow for party candidate Arvind Kejriwal after the latter fell unwell.

In Varanasi, BJP president Rajnath Singh ended up repeating something that Modi had faulted as "arrogance" in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Singh said there was no bigger Aam Aadmi than Modi as he used to sell tea. When asked about Aam Aadmi Party's chances, whose chief Arvind Kejriwal is Modi's rival in Varanasi, Singh deadpanned: "Which party?" Singh's response was reminiscent of Priyanka's in Amethi barely last week. When asked about BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances in Amethi, Priyanka had said: "Who?"

At long last and in Varanasi, both BJP and Congress could agree on one thing - that Bismillah Khan's family was apolitical. BJP played down the issue of the family having welcome Rahul at Benia Bagh with a shehnai recital. BJP leaders said the family had performed for Modi at a hotel on Friday night.

Forty one seats go to polls on Monday. Of these 18 are in eastern UP, six in Bihar and 17 in West Bengal.

Ends