Campaigning for Monday's election ends amidst blitzkrieg of publicity in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Bright flames of publicity unfolded Saturday before the political campaign was extinguished ahead of Monday's Lok Sabha election in Mumbai. All aspirants including sitting MPs led celebrity rallies and vast cavalcades in a bid to impress the voter in a five-yearly exercise.
The Congress' North West candidate Sanjay Nirupam led a four hour long bike rally from Dindoshi to Juhu. He rode pillion alongside a cavalcade of 1,000 motorcyclists. "I told my party workers that the remaining two nights are the night of reckoning. We have ploughed the land and sowed the seed. If we want a robust harvest, we will have to ensure we bring out voters en masse on April 29. We will all work towards achieving a high turnout."
Congress candidate Priya Dutt who is contesting from Mumbai North Central said, "I visited pockets of my constituency that I had not covered so far. I did a roadshow in Kurla followed by a padyatra in Sahar. There were also a few meetings in Kalina and Bandra. I have covered most of my constituency even though I am sure a few voters will still be disappointed that I could not reach them. But I have not had fly by padyatras. I have often lingered to speak extensively to people for 10-15 minutes."
Dutt says the response has been "excellent". "I am getting a very positive vibe."
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis campaigned for sitting BJP MP Poonam Mahajan in Kurla.
Sena-BJP nominee Gajanan Kirtikar"s classic style includes leading a brigade of approximately 1,000 women dressed in saffron saris. "We did so from 10.00am to 2 00pm on Saturday also," he laughed. "Then the Jain and Gujarati samaj hosted us in Goregaon."
Kirtikar feels that PM Modi's rally at BKC Friday has energised voters towards their alliance.
However, Priya Dutt and Sanjay Nirupam both say that the electorate has made up its mind on its choice of candidate by now. Nirupam said, "Modi's rally was a big flop. There was no (positive) reaction. In fact people see through his attempt to pay lip service to Mumbai's police force. It is because of Sadhvi Pragya's slanderous statements. People are asking that if he feels so strongly about the valour of the police, why has he given a ticket to her? His statements on the economy were a flop also. Everybody can see the reality."