Parties step up campaign in Delhi polls

With the Delhi assembly polls drawing closer, three main political parties in the fray - the BJP, the Congress and the AAP - stepped up their campaigning.

In fact, the BJP held over 16 rallies Thursday.

The national capital goes to the polls Feb 7 and ballots will be counted Feb 10.

While BJP chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi is aggressively campaigning across the length and breadth of the city, Prime Minster Narendra Modi will address four rallies starting from Jan 31.

Modi's first poll rally for the BJP in the capital had received a tepid response.

The BJP has roped in its central ministers to campaign for the party.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed two rallies Thursday, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan addressed two rallies. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani also interacted with people in four assembly segments.

The AAP leaders, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, too have been working overtime to woo the voters for the party. Kumar Vishwas and other senior AAP leaders are holding public rallies tirelessly.

Kejriwal, who has already campaigned in all the 70 assembly segments, is making sure that he visits all the constituencies twice.

The Congress, which lost badly in the last general election and the following states elections, is being projected as the underdog in the Delhi polls. It also has been holding rallies with its senior most leaders.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has already held one road show and a public rally, and party chief Sonia Gandhi is set to hold a public rally Sunday in south Delhi.