Political bigwigs, their poll managers, election officials, journalists and party cadres heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday evening as curtains came down on the bitterly fought elections for the 16th lok Sabha spread over five weeks.
Dominated by sharp political exchanges, smart barbs, and vitriolic personal attacks as well as ideological potshots, the campaigning saw BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi single-handedly imparting a pan-India dimension to his party and making himself a sure-fire bait for the top post in the country. Modi criss-crossed the country addressing scores of rallies besides holding innovative “chai pe charcha” meetings and also a 3D video campaign. He covered a distance of nearly 5 lakh km during his poll campaign.
However, the highlight of the last day of campaign was back-to-back roadshows by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi from where Modi is expected to romp to victory. Elsewhere too, top leaders, including Modi, sought to muster a final show of strength in the ninth and concluding phase for 41 seats — 18 in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in West Bengal and six in Bihar — in three States campaigning for which closed on Saturday at 6 pm. The polling will take place on Monday.
The campaign, which began on the issue of development and governance, was marked by attacks and counter-attacks by leaders across the political spectrum and use of derogatory language. While the BJP targeted Robert Vadra in a big way, the Congress sought to pin down Modi by highlighting his link with Adanis and Ambanis. The Congress also sought to corner Modi on his role in snoopgate and taking decades to reveal his marital status. Not to be left behind, Modi made direct attacks on the entire Gandhi family and accused Sonia Gandhi of turning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh into a “puppet”.
Amid electioneering, the “puppet PM” became a topic of intense discussion after PM’s former Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru’s book The Accidental Prime Minister revealed how Sonia Gandhi controlled the functioning of the Prime Minister’s Office and the PM had to virtually take diktats from 10 Janpath on crucial issues.
During the high decibel campaign, Modi constantly targeted Rahul as “shehzada” and the UPA dispensation as the “maa-bete ki sarkar”, besides going after Robert Vadra over alleged land deals.
The BJP PM candidate hurled barbs at the UPA Government, saying it represented the “ABCD” of corruption, referring to Adarsh, Bofors and coal scams. He also took a “RSVP” jibe at the Nehru-Gandhi family, saying R stood for Rahul, S for Sonia, V for Vadra and P for Priyanka. Modi often ridiculed his rival parties for having a one-point “Stop Modi” agenda.
The BJP prime ministerial candidate also had his share of criticism with several leaders taking on him in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat. The Trinamool Congress in West Bengal called Modi the “Butcher of Gujarat” after he escalated his attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying there is no “poribortan” in the eastern State.
Taking the political battle to an all-time low, SP leader Azam Khan called Modi an elder brother of a “dog’s pup”, while Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma of the Congress dubbed the Gujarat Chief Minister as the “biggest goon” of the RSS. Verma had also dubbed Modi as a monster. Rahul hurled “balloon” and “toffee model” barbs at the BJP prime ministerial candidate.
The Congress also attacked Modi for constantly harping on Gujarat model of development, claiming there has been no development at all in the western State during his rule. Congress’s Saharanpur candidate Imran Masood had sparked off a major outrage when he threatened to chop Modi into pieces after which he was arrested. Priyanka was also brought into the campaign by the Congress towards the later stages and she managed to energise the party cadre in Uttar Pradesh. But she confined her campaign to Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Modi was also involved in a wordy duel with the Samajwadi Party when he said one should have a “56-inch chest” to make UP like Gujarat, inviting a “56-inch belly retort”. The failure of the Election Commission of India in controlling use of “abusive language,” its dubious role in not grating permission to Modi to hold a roadshow in Varanasi, and its inability to conduct free and fair polls in West Bengal took some sheen off the poll body, which has done exemplary jobs in the recent times.
The ninth phase will witness the mother of all contests in Varanasi involving Modi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, five-time MlA from UP Ajay Rai (Congress). The country registered a record turnout of voters, surpassing the previous record in 1984, as 66.27 per cent voting was reported in 502 lok Sabha seats where polling has been conducted in eight phases that began on April 7. The 2009 elections recorded a 57.94 per cent turnout.