 "Campaigning for 2014 elections ends, personal attacks don't")
A characteristically fractious end to campaigning for the 41 seats going to polls on May 12 also marked the culmination of more than a month of polling process for the country's 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. On Saturday, political leaders continued to trade personal attacks and accused others of failing to talk on the more substantive issues of development and corruption.
The day was marked by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav taking out separate roadshows across Varanasi, from where the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is contesting.
Modi, also the Gujarat chief minister, was in the neighbourhood, addressing five rallies across UP to end an election campaign that had started on September 13 last year, when his party had named him its prime ministerial candidate. (POWER PLAY: A snapshot of the general elections)
Mangal Pandey's martyrdom in March 1857 had sparked the revolt a month later in Meerut. Ballia is also remembered for its role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
Modi, who has been campaigning for more than six months, claimed to have covered over 300,000 km over the period across India and addressed rallies and public meetings that could be seen at 5,800 places.
But there was no end to name calling on Saturday. Modi attacked Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Delhi's intelligentsia and even the Left parties for having practised politics of "untouchability" against him. He pointed out how everyone who supported him, such as Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan or singer Lata Mangeshkar or a Muslim MP from Kerala, were victimised in some or the other manner.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati again questioned the veracity of Modi's claim of hailing from a socially backward caste, while the Congress' Rahul Gandhi said Modi was full of anger and snooped on women.
Akhilesh said 'MODI' stood for "model of dividing India", while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s Lalu Prasad averred Modi was the "chela" (protege) of Lal Krishna Advani.
Just as he (Lalu) had halted Advani's Rath Yatra in 1990, he would also stop Modi's march to Delhi this time, Prasad claimed. These leaders also attacked each other but in passing, betraying a sense that the election as Yadav put it was between pro-Modi and anti-Modi people.
In Varanasi, BJP cried foul over the returning officer allowing Rahul Gandhi's roadshow through the Beniabagh locality, where it had disallowed Modi's rally on Thursday over security concerns. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said it was evident permission to Modi was denied because of political reasons.
Shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan's family performed during Rahul's roadshow. The family, however, did not make any political statements of support to the Congress.
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas led the roadshow for party candidate Arvind Kejriwal after the latter fell unwell.
In Varanasi, BJP President Rajnath Singh ended up repeating something Modi had faulted as "arrogance" in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Singh said there was no bigger aam aadmi than Modi, as he used to sell tea. Asked about Aam Aadmi Party's chances, whose chief Kejriwal was Modi's rival in Varanasi, Singh deadpanned: "Which party?" Singh's response was reminiscent of Priyanka's in Amethi, barely last week. Asked about BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances in Amethi, Priyanka had said: "Who?"
At long last and in Varanasi, both BJP and Congress could agree on one thing - that Bismillah Khan's family was apolitical. BJP played down the issue of the family having welcomed Rahul Gandhi at Beniabagh with a shehnai recital. The party's leaders said the family had performed for Modi at a hotel on Friday night.
Of the 41 seats go to polls on Monday, 18 are in eastern Uttar Pradesh, six in Bihar and 17 in West Bengal.
The day was marked by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav taking out separate roadshows across Varanasi, from where the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is contesting.
Modi, also the Gujarat chief minister, was in the neighbourhood, addressing five rallies across UP to end an election campaign that had started on September 13 last year, when his party had named him its prime ministerial candidate. (POWER PLAY: A snapshot of the general elections)
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Modi said he began his election campaign with a rally in Udhampur after a visit to Vaishno Devi in Jammu last year. And he was ending it in eastern UP's Ballia, the birthplace of Mangal Pandey, the hero of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. "It was Ballia from where a movement for Swaraj (independence) had started and the town was today beginning the movement for Surajya (good governance)," Modi said.
Mangal Pandey's martyrdom in March 1857 had sparked the revolt a month later in Meerut. Ballia is also remembered for its role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
Modi, who has been campaigning for more than six months, claimed to have covered over 300,000 km over the period across India and addressed rallies and public meetings that could be seen at 5,800 places.
But there was no end to name calling on Saturday. Modi attacked Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Delhi's intelligentsia and even the Left parties for having practised politics of "untouchability" against him. He pointed out how everyone who supported him, such as Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan or singer Lata Mangeshkar or a Muslim MP from Kerala, were victimised in some or the other manner.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati again questioned the veracity of Modi's claim of hailing from a socially backward caste, while the Congress' Rahul Gandhi said Modi was full of anger and snooped on women.
Akhilesh said 'MODI' stood for "model of dividing India", while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s Lalu Prasad averred Modi was the "chela" (protege) of Lal Krishna Advani.
Just as he (Lalu) had halted Advani's Rath Yatra in 1990, he would also stop Modi's march to Delhi this time, Prasad claimed. These leaders also attacked each other but in passing, betraying a sense that the election as Yadav put it was between pro-Modi and anti-Modi people.
In Varanasi, BJP cried foul over the returning officer allowing Rahul Gandhi's roadshow through the Beniabagh locality, where it had disallowed Modi's rally on Thursday over security concerns. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said it was evident permission to Modi was denied because of political reasons.
Shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan's family performed during Rahul's roadshow. The family, however, did not make any political statements of support to the Congress.
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas led the roadshow for party candidate Arvind Kejriwal after the latter fell unwell.
In Varanasi, BJP President Rajnath Singh ended up repeating something Modi had faulted as "arrogance" in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Singh said there was no bigger aam aadmi than Modi, as he used to sell tea. Asked about Aam Aadmi Party's chances, whose chief Kejriwal was Modi's rival in Varanasi, Singh deadpanned: "Which party?" Singh's response was reminiscent of Priyanka's in Amethi, barely last week. Asked about BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances in Amethi, Priyanka had said: "Who?"
At long last and in Varanasi, both BJP and Congress could agree on one thing - that Bismillah Khan's family was apolitical. BJP played down the issue of the family having welcomed Rahul Gandhi at Beniabagh with a shehnai recital. The party's leaders said the family had performed for Modi at a hotel on Friday night.
Of the 41 seats go to polls on Monday, 18 are in eastern Uttar Pradesh, six in Bihar and 17 in West Bengal.