The road to victory...

Candidates and parties are known to apply every trick in the book to defeat their rivals in one of the most polarised elections to date. In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, the ruling Samajwadi Party is known to be optimally using the facilities of the state administration to help its candidates. In Jhansi, the state police barricaded the road one km in advance, leaving Mayawati's supporters with no option but to walk up to the venue of the rally under the baking sun.