True to the spirit of the poll campaign trends in India, this time too, controversies played an important role in sending our collective adrenaline gushing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spearheaded the campaign for the ruling party and Congress' new president Rahul Gandhi helmed the stumping for his outfit. There was a fierce battle between the two-star campaigners and even other leaders joined them.
Interestingly, no other state election has seen Pakistan being dragged into it and accused of colluding with the opposition to hatch conspiracies. No other state election has seen a country's PM campaigning so aggressively or the dynastic scion of India's grand old party visiting 27 temples in three months.
Here's a look at some of the fiercest attacks during the election campaign
Gabbar Singh Tax
Congress president Rahul Gandhi started the high-decibel attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat by saying that government ignored Congress's suggestion on GST. Rahul went on to term GST as 'Gabbar Singh Tax', a taunt which became quite popular. Retorting to Rahul's taunt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress and Rahul by saying that those who looted India in last 70 years can remember only dacoits.
The 'Neech' remark
The Congress played into the BJP's hands with one of its senior leaders, Mani Shankar Aiyar, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "neech" aadmi (low-class person) in a remark reminiscent of his "chai wallah" jibe, also aimed at Modi ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's "maut ka saudagar" (merchant of death) comment dating back to 2007, also targeting Modi.
Hardik accuses of dirty politics
Hardik Patel, who led the Patidar community's protests for reservation in 2015, accused the BJP of spying on him after television news channels showed security camera clips from a hotel in Ahmedabad amid rumours that he had gone there to secretly met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Patel also blamed the BJP's "dirty politics" for alleged sex videos of him surfacing on social media. The National Commission for Women is investigating a complaint against Patel, who is the leader of Patidar Amanat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and is supporting the Congress in the Gujarat elections, about the videos.
Congress attacks Election Commission
The Congress accused the commission of acting like a "frontal organisation of BJP" for not stopping PM Modi's "roadshow" in Ahmedabad when voting in the second phase of Gujarat elections was underway. The party also filed a complaint with the commission against Modi. "It is a great shame that PM Narendra Modi has turned all constitutional institutions into his puppets, the Election Commission of India being one of them," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
Opposition parties question EVMs
A few electronic voting machines (EVMs) were replaced after complaints of malfunctioning and tampering in the two phases of voting in the Gujarat elections. The technical snag was reported in nearly 40 machines in the first phase of elections for 89 seats. "All the machines got connected through Bluetooth of three mobile phones," alleged Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia polling in the second phase.
Hardik sex Cds
Patidar leader Hardik Patel landed in a controversy after three batches of controversial clips dubbed as sex CDs went viral. The first set of videos went viral in November and a second one, with five clips, was released a week ago. Patel called it BJP's dirty politics to defame him. However, these did little to dull his popularity as he held a massive rally in Surat and Ahmedabad and was given a hero's welcome in Patidardominated areas.
Row over Rahul's faith
Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Somnath temple on Wednesday got mired in a controversy after his name was found written on the entry register meant for non- Hindus, with the Congress calling it "fake" and BJP insisting that the leader declare his religious faith before people.
Chaiwala jibe
A meme by Youth Congress aimed at taking a dig at PM Modi's beginnings as a tea-seller evoked a strong response from BJP, which called it "blatantly classist and anti-poor". The official handle of Yuva Sandesh tweeted a collage with photographs of Modi, US Prez Donald Trump and British PM Theresa May in conversation. Modi was shown mispronouncing 'meme' and being corrected by Trump, with May finally saying "tu chai bech (you sell tea)". Modi took a swipe at the Cong, saying, "I am a chaiwala, I sell only tea. I will never commit the sin of selling the country."
Modi eats 5 mushrooms a day remark
Gujarat Congress OBC leader Alpesh Thakor claimed that Prime Minister Modi was a dark-skinned person but became fair after he started eating imported mushrooms worth Rs. 4,00,000.
Thakor said that someone had told him that Modi eats five mushrooms a day which is imported from Taiwan with one mushroom costing Rs. 80,000.
PM Modi's seaplane journey
PM Narendra Modi might have flown VVIP flights around the world is in his forty-two months-long tenure, but the thirty-minute flight that he took on Monday to travel 180 km from the Sabarmati river to Dharoi dam in Mehsana will go down in the annals of VVIP flying for a number of firsts. With it, Modi became the first incumbent Indian PM to be flown by foreign pilots onboard an American-registered aircraft.
However, Congress mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking a seaplane for campaigning in Gujarat, terming it "Hawa Hawai" and added that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not understand development.
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