It is a transition from ‘war drums’ to ‘fighting for every street and every home’ as the din and bustle of campaigning died down at 1800 hrs on Tuesday in ten parliamentary constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, the candidates would now be able to go only from door-to-door.
Vidisha, Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone, Khandwa and Betul are scheduled to witness polling from 0700 to 1800 hrs on Thursday in the state’s third and final phase that is to determine the fortunes of 118 nominees. Dewas and Ujjain are reserved for Scheduled Castes whereas Ratlam, Dhar, Khargone and Betul are for Scheduled Tribes.
The maximum number of contestants is 22 in Indore. Corresponding figures are Mandsaur, Khandwa (both 14), Vidisha, Ujjain (both 12), Dewas (11), Ratlam (10), Khargone, Betul (both 8) and Dhar (7).
A by-election in Vidisha Assembly constituency, which fell vacant after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan quit the seat, would also be conducted in this phase and 11 candidates are in the fray there.
The 1, 69, 53, 358-strong electorate includes 81,71,514 members of the fairer sex.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are in locked in combat in almost all the constituencies while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also made its presence felt.
During campaigning, the BJP referred to the Centre’s “anti-people” policies and enumerated the work done in BJP-ruled states while the Congress chiefly mentioned the Centre’s achievements over the past decade and BJP regimes’ “erroneous” policies.
The BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi thundered at meetings in Ratlam and Betul whereas Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed a rally in Neemuch. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke at several rallies.
This heartland state has 29 lok Sabha constituencies. Nine witnessed voting on April 10 and ten on April 17. A look at the 2009 results shows that the saffron party emerged victorious in 16 and the Congress in 12 constituencies while the Bahujan Samaj Party had to be content with a solitary seat.