Rebels hold the key to Mantralaya

Maharashtra campaign ends

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) entered the "hold your breath" zone as campaigning ended today for the Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled for 13 October. Up for grabs are 288 seats. Counting is to start and likely to be completed on October 16.

Political pundits say never has an election been so closely contested and the outcome so dominated by the "rebel" phenomenon.

Top leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena, the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and other political parties wound up a dusty, tiring campaign that has had its share of smiles and tears.

Today, Home Minister Shivraj Patil found himself stranded near the Maharashtra-Karnataka border as his helicopter was given wrong co-ordinates and found itself out of fuel and miles from the nearest refuelling station.

In a very Vajpayee-like last minute wooing of voters, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lavished praise on Marathi film "Shwaas" that has won the President's medal for the best Indian film and is India's entry for the Oscars. He also said he loved Marathi, the language and Maharashtra, the state.

In her best last-mile effort, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who, in one constituency addressed a 40,000 strong meeting (a large turnout for an Assembly election by any standards) addressed a huge meeting in Bhiwandi where memories of communal riots still linger and reminded voters of the Gujarat riots, warning them that the same forces wanted to be elected to Mantralaya but that their plans should be foiled.

In her most aggressive speech yet, Gandhi called the campaign of the BJP-Shiv Sena, "lies", especially Vajpayee's assertion during a rally yesterday that the NDA government had considered Maharashtra as its own and had not treated the state differently despite Congress-NCP rule. "It is a total lie", Gandhi said.

Gandhi was probably the only national leader who addressed meetings in almost all regions of the state, an apparent attempt by the Congress to encash her image after she abdicated the prime minister's post.

Gandhi said unity, development and strength in the country was only because of the Congress and no other party could match the competence of her party. She called upon the people to be wary of those parties which call themselves secular but were hand in glove with BJP-Sena.

Gandhi said the Congress was the only political organisation which had treated all sections of the society equally and in in the same manner.

NCP president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, despite his ill-health, was another leader, who criss-crossed the state and addressed nearly 100 public rallies. But Sena supremo Bal Thackeray restricted himself to just two public meetings""in Thane and Mumbai""both strongholds of the saffron party, because of bad health.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, whose party played spoilsport for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls and is contesting a maximum number of 272 seats, aggressively campaigned for her party, staying in the state a fortnight ahead of the polls. Mayawati also campaigned in Vidarbha and Marathwada""which has a sizeable Dalit population.

The import of the election will come to the fore only after the results come out, as it will determine not just the centre of gravity of the United Progressive Alliance, but will be a test of the political mettle of middle-level leaders of the BJP like Pramod Mahajan. If Sharad Pawar wins the election for the Congress-NCP, equations in the central UPA will change, with a temporary eclipse of leaders like Lalu Prasad.

If on the other hand, it is the BJP-Shiv Sena manages to form the government, Mahajan's spiralling upward rise in a party that is desperately seeking leadership, is almost certain.