Ranchi: Curtains fell on the high-octane campaigning for the 43 assembly constituencies on Monday evening, which will go to vote on November 13 in the first phase. A total of 683 candidates are in the fray, including five ministers, along with several debutants fighting to restore their family legacy.
PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah led the NDA's charge in the run-up to Wednesday's voting by holding multiple rallies and roadshows over the last fortnight. The two top leaders of BJP alone held around half a dozen rallies, besides an array of other Union ministers, chief ministers and deputy chief ministers, among others, who were pressed into campaigning in the state.
From the INDIA bloc, CM Hemant Soren and his MLA wife Kalpana also went the extra mile through their whirlwind tours to canvass both for JMM and other alliance partners, including Congress. From the grand old party, Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge visited the state twice each to woo voters.
On the final day of campaigning, Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath separately held multiple rallies in different constituencies, while Bollywood actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty canvassed in three different constituencies in Jamshedpur and adjoining areas for the first time on Monday.
For both the ruling and opposition camps, the ensuing election is a high-stakes battle. The opposition's electoral strategy largely hinged on the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration, resentment among youths due to paper leaks, joblessness and corruption to press for a change of guard with the PM's telling the voters, ‘Ek Rahoge to safe rahoge'. Only on Monday, Congress coined ‘Daroge to maroge' to retort to the PM and BJP's jibes.
The Hemant Soren-led alliance, which managed to stay in office despite tackling Covid-19 and a govt toppling bid allegedly by BJP, is banking on a slew of its welfare measures such as the Maiyan Samman Yojana (monthly fiscal assistance scheme for women), free electricity up to 200 units for all and the old pension scheme for govt employees to return.
Both camps claimed that the wave was in their favour. Talking to reporters briefly in the morning BJP's co-in-charge of the Jharkhand election, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that a change is in the offing. "The regime is set to change. People are yearning for a change," he commented. Congress also expressed optimism. Its spokesperson Lal Kishorenath Shahdeo said, "Despite BJP's divisive campaigning, the INDIA bloc's works for people will bring this govt back.