High-octane campaign for Maha Assembly poll ends

The high-octane campaign for Maharashtra Assembly election ended today with the state set to witness a five-cornered contest for the 288-member House after 25 years.
With long-standing political alliances crumbling, the poll will test the mettle of four major parties--Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena individually, with Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena trying to emerge as the X factor in the keenly watched contest.
As in Lok Sabha poll five months ago, the Assembly election in Maharashtra is about Narendra Modi, who sought to unleash his personal charisma, carpet-bombing the state with a slew of rallies, evoking criticism from rivals but thrusting forward BJP as prime contender for power in the state for the first time without the crutches of former saffron ally Shiv Sena.

Fresh from a successful visit to the US, Modi launched himself into Maharashtra's electoral arena with a vengeance, addressing 27 rallies, rare by a Prime Minister in a state Assembly election, in the absence of a BJP leader with pan-Maharashtra appeal, following the death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde in a car crash soon after Lok Sabha poll.
During his campaign blitzkrieg, Modi focused on berating Congress and NCP for "colossal corruption" leading to state's "ruin" while showcasing Gujarat's development under him but steered clear of criticising BJP's estranged ally of 25 years Shiv Sena with which the party snapped ties just before the election.

Rally after rally, Modi invoked Shivaji to strike a chord with Marathi voters, prompting derision from Shiv Sena which said BJP never even cared to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Maratha king.
Though Modi avoided criticising Sena "out of respect for Bal Thackeray", his former ally did not shy away from repeatedly raking up the issue of "betrayal".