The high-voltage campaign in the October 15 Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra came to an end this evening as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his offensive against Congress and other rivals who gave back in equal measure.
The dust and din came to an end at 5 PM when the loudspeakers went silent as political parties asked their cadre to get on with the job of door-to-door campaign for persuading the voters.
Egged on by the massive mandate he got in the Lok Sabha elections just five months ago, Modi unleashed a poll blitzkrieg addressing over 30 rallies in the two states where he took on the opposition over dynastic politics and corruption.
With no local face in Maharashtra which has 288 seats and Haryana which has 90 seats, the BJP banked heavily on Modi for campaigning, especially in Maharashtra where it split with its long term ally, the Shiv Sena.
While he avoided any criticism of Shiv Sena, Modi came down heavily on both the Congress and NCP, saying they were highly corrupt and had looted the state for the last 15 years.
Congress on the other hand projected Prithviraj Chavan while NCP Ajit Pawar and Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray.
With Wednesday's polling in the two states being seen as the first key test of popularity for major political parties after the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP left nothing to chance with Modi addressing over 20 rallies in Maharashtra and 10 in Haryana. Counting of votes will be taken up on Sunday.
The October 15 elections for the Maharashtra Assembly will be the first in over quarter of a century when major political parties are out in the poll arena sans erstwhile alliance partners.
