Campaigning reaches feverish pitch in Delhi

Campaigning for the assembly elections in the Capital reached its peak here on Wednesday, with the electorate bombarded with over 80 rallies , big and small. And wherever public meetings were not allowed, roadshows were thrown in.

Leading the pack were Opposition leader L K Advani , Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sushma Swaraj. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi took up cudgels on behalf of his party, addressing a public meeting at Dilshad Garden, part of the Seemapuri constituency.

With campaigning for the 70-member assembly coming to end on Thursday, the two leading contenders, the ruling Congress, and the BJP, which has launched a determined bid to oust chief minister Sheila Dikshit from her chair, had a packed schedule, pitting their entire organisational might to lure voters.

While the BJP had lined up over 50 public meetings during the course of the day in various corners of the city, the Congress, facing a dearth of good speakers, could only manage around 30. While Mr Rahul Gandhi sought to neutralise the BSP���s impact in east Delhi by addressing a well-attended rally in Seemapuri, it was left to Ms Dikshit to shoulder the responsibility for steering her party���s campaign for a third consecutive term in office.

That she had emerged as the Congress chief campaigner in the city was evident from the fact that she was the star speaker at 10 public meetings. BJP���s prime ministerial candidate addressed three impressive rallies at Burari, Ghonda and Gokulpur.

As far as crowd-pulling abilities were concerned, it was, however, clear that the Gujarat chief minister was head-and-shoulders above all political leaders, drawing large and responsive crowds at Nazafgarh, Tilak Nagar, Raghuvir Nagar, Paschim Vihar and Tri Nagar.

The public meeting scheduled to be addressed by him at Uttam Nagar was cancelled by the authorities for inexplicable reasons, but the roadshow held in place was enough to mollify the large number of people who were hoping to have a feel of his oratorial skills.

His first meeting for the day, held near the Sai Baba Mandir at Nazafgarh, saw a large turnout. He could connect with the people immediately, harping on themes such as terrorism, ���lack of development��� in Delhi and the Sheila Dikshit government���s ���poor track-record��� and the ���impressive strides��� made by Gujarat in recent times.

`I read from newspaper reports that the Delhi high court has ordered jail sentence for an ex-Delhi Jal Board CEO for refusing to honour his words on stopping the flow of sewage into Yamuna. Officials are being made to pay the price for the failure of their political masters. Time has come for you to punish those who have ruled the city,������ Mr Modi told an enthusiastic crowd.

He repeated his take on the arrest of Lt Col Purohit , terming it as the ���denigration the Army��� by the Congress-led government at the Centre. According to Mr Modi, the ruling coalition had done ���what Pakistan could not do��� all these years.