Leaders of political parties made a last-ditch effort to woo voters as campaign for the April 10 Lok Sabha polls came to an end today in Gautambudh Nagar, comprising Noida and Greater Noida.
The constituency witnesses a triangular contest among BJP's Mahesh Sharma, SP's Narendra Bhati and BSP candidate Satish Awana. Congress had received a shock as its candidate Ramesh Chand Tomar had joined rival BJP last week.
Residents of 291 villages in the constituency are likely to play a crucial role in the elections and all the top contenders aggressively wooed their support.
Bhati and Awana are known to have strong support base in villages while BJP's Sharma appears to be on a strong wicket in urban areas.
Gautam Budh Nagar constituency, formed in 1997 by carving out portions of Ghaziabad and Bulandshahar constituency, has five assembly segments.
Election officials said 12 companies of paramilitary force and five companies of Provincial Armoured Constabulary (PAC) have been deployed to ensure security in Gautam Budh Nagar.
"Apart from armed forces, we are getting additional force of 4,000 personnel from nearby districts. On the day of election, polling booths and EVMs will be guarded by paramilitary while local police will make round and guard the venues from outside," they said.
A total of 23 contestants are in the fray. Election officials said around 19.8 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
On the last day of campaign today, BJP's Sharma spent his day by meeting with people in Noida and Greater Noida while SP's Bhati, who had infamously declared that he had got IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended in 41 minutes - mostly tried to woo voters in rural areas.
AAP's K P Singh, who has been associated with several RWAs, started his campaign meeting morning walkers and later addressed roadshows in different sectors and villages.
An FIR was recently registered against Bhati after he allegedly asked some wrestlers to ensure above 90 per cent polling by casting multiple votes.
