Last-ditch effort by parties in South Gujarat to woo voters

Surat: Campaigning for the third phase of election came to an end in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of South Gujarat along with other parts of the state and two seats in the Union Territories of Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli at 5pm on Sunday. Voting will be held in these seven constituencies on April 23.
Candidates of main parties-Congress and BJP- moved around in the constituencies of Surat, Navsari, Bardoli, Valsad and Bharuch to canvass, braving 40 degree Celsius temperature in their last-ditch effort to woo the voters.

Ashok Adevada, who has been fielded by Congress from Surat Lok Sabha constituency, took out a rally in the areas of Varachha, Karanj, Katargam and Surat East. Darshana Jardosh, who has been renominated again by BJP as candidate from Surat Lok Sabha constituency, too held a rally in Surat North, Karanj and Varachha. “Now, our focus should shift to booth management. In a short span of time, we were able to meet almost all people in our constituency and distribute voters slips,” she said.

No major incident of violence was reported from any constituency, though a number of complaints about violation of model code of conduct were made to Election Commission of India by different people, sources said.

With the campaigning ending, political parties will now hold informal snack parties at different places and their election offices on Monday and Tuesday to keep the supporters and voters happy. “We treat visitors to our election offices with bhajias and tea. Our election offices work round the clock and we have to provide some refreshments to our party workers and also visitors,” a leader of a political party said in Varachha.