Lok Sabha elections 2014: On last day of Lok Sabha campaign, a Rahul Gandhi show-stopper

VARANASI: The millennial city burst into political frenzy as parties vying for the temple town’s heart — and vote — pulled out all stops on Saturday, the last day of campaign . The constituency, along with 17 other seats in east UP and 23 in Bengal and Bihar, goes to vote on Monday.

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi mounted a four-hour roadshow over 12km while BJP unleashed its state-level leaders for an intensive door-todoor campaign. However, PM candidate Narendra Modi wasn’t around. An indisposed Arvind Kejriwal was missing in action even as AAP put up another striking roadshow. Asked if he felt Kejriwal’s pitch of 100 seats was an over-estimation , AAP leader Yogendra Yadav replied , “Our aim is not just to win seats... but to provide an alternative politics. This is not a matter of one election.”

Regional biggies also stamped their presence. UP CM Akhilesh Yadav led an SP ‘carnival’ through the heart of the city. In reply to Modi’s jibe on ‘baap bete ki sarkar’ , Akhilesh came up with th barb that he (Modi) could also make such a government if he was capable of doing so. BSP chief Mayawati, though, chose to stay away from the hotly contested seat.

The Congress spectacle was a psychological boost for party candidate Ajay Rai, who seemed to have slipped in the race. The roadshow was also seen as the Congress leader’s riposte to Modi, who broke an unwritten code by holding a giant rally in Rahul’s Amethi.
When BJP’s top rung was absent from Kashi on Saturday , sitting MP Murli Manohar Joshi was spotted in Udhe village seeking support for Modi, indicating all’s well that ends well.