Campaigning ends as MP prepares for Nov 28 polls

November 26, 2018 20:43

Curtains came down Monday evening on the acrimonious campaigning for the high-stakes November 28 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, where star campaigners of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and other parties addressed a series of rallies and held roadshows to seek support for candidates.

Canvassing came to a formal end at 5 pm and voting to elect a new 230-member assembly will take place on Wednesday. As many as 2,907 candidates are in the fray.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi were the star campaigners for their respective parties and addressed a number of poll rallies across the state.

They freely exchanged barbs and traded charges, raising the political temperature in the central state.

National and state issues, including the Rafale deal, demonetisation, development, GST, corruption, dynastic politics and the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's performance, among others, prominently figured in their speeches.

BJP president Amit Shah, too, campaigned in the state, where his party is seeking a fourth straight term in office.

A purported video of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath on Muslim votes went viral during the last leg of electioneering with the BJP accusing the main opposition party of dividing society for electoral gains.

Two hours before the electioneering drew to a close, BJP vice-presidents Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Prabhat Jha, addressing a press conference in Bhopal, exuded confidence about the saffron outfit retaining power.

Sahasrabuddhe said electioneering started with "development" and "politics of performance" being discussed, but the Congress stooped low by dragging Modi's parents into the campaigning.

Addressing a separate press meet in the afternoon, chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed his party was set to come back to power in the state after 15 years.

Surjewala targeted BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is seeking a fourth term of office, over the lack of development in his assembly constituency Budhni. -- PTI

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