Varanasi: The campaign for one of the most keenly-watched Lok Sabha seats came to an end here on Saturday on a note of bitter acrimony as the holy town turned into a key political battleground of roadshows, rallies and public meetings where rival leaders traded barbs.
Living up to its mythological history of once being the stage for a battle between Gods and Demons, Varanasi has seen key candidates Narendra Modi of BJP, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party and Ajay Rai of Congress as also many other party
leaders launching some of the fiercest attacks on their rivals.
Also in poll fray are Samajwadi Party, BSP, Trinamool Congress and many smaller parties as also a large number of independent candidates, adding to the total number of those fighting from this prestigious Lok Sabha seat to 42.
On the last day of campaigning today for polls on May 12, two major roadshows brought the city to a halt.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi held a 12-km and over four-hour-long roadshow in support of Rai this morning while UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also came for a SP roadshow to seek votes for the party candidate Kailash Chaurasiya.
AAP also held a roadshow and although Kejriwal could not join senior party leader Kumar Vishwas, who has taken on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, led it.
Rahul's roadshow was seen as a response to the one held by Modi in Amethi before May 7 polling there, which had broken an unwritten code of a top politician not campaigning in the political backyard of a leading rival.
Going by the size of crowds, Rahul Gandhi's roadshow was huge and so was Akhilesh Yadav's. Kejriwal had also held a massive roadshow yesterday that continued for over five hours before culminating in a public rally where he launched a scathing attack on Modi and also predicted the collapse of both BJP and Congress after the Lok Sabha election.
While Rahul didn't address public in Varanasi, he attended a rally in nearby Chandauli constituency later in the day and there he hit hard at Modi who himself addressed five rallies in different nearby constituencies.
The latest series of roadshows began on May 8 when Modi drove through the city after being denied permission to hold a public rally at minority-dominated Beniabagh area here.
He, however, addressed a rally on the same day in Rohaniya, a rural area outside Varanasi city but within this Lok Sabha constituency. Modi also had planned to participate in Ganga Aarti on ghats here, but had to cancel the same after delay in permission from local authorities.
Kejriwal conducted Ganga Aarti along with his wife on the same evening.
Denial of permission to Modi had triggered a major showdown between BJP and the election authorities and Election Commission had to appoint a special election observer for Varanasi polls.
As the campaigning ended, all major parties also held press conferences exuding confidence in their wins.
Arvind Kejriwal was not present but his party colleague Yogendra Yadav said AAP charted a different course by challenging the resources of biggest industrial houses and established political parties.
Yadav claimed AAP got huge support during its foray into national elections.
"This election will be known for shameless use of money and media to create a wave", he said.
Nota (None of the above) option was used for the first time in a parliamentary poll in the country.
The campaign held in blistering plus 40 degree Celsius temperatures in several parts of the country was replete with barbs by various political leaders.
During the high decibel campaign marked by vitriolic accusations, Modi constantly targeted Rahul as 'shehzada' and the UPA dispensation as the 'mother-son' government besides going after Sonia's son-in-law Robert Vadra over alleged land deals.
He also 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.
He 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 him on in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.
The Trinammol Congress in West Bengal called Modi as the "Butcher" of Gujarat after he escalated his attack against the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying there is no "poribartan" 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 Congress dubbed the Gujarat chief minister as the "biggest goon" of RSS. Verma had also dubbed Modi as a monster.
As the Congress powered its political onslaught on Modi, it invoked the legacy of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Sonia and Rahul put Modi in the crosshairs over alleged favours given to the Adani group in land deals and claimed that he favoured only a select industrialists. 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 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 managed to energise the cadres in Uttar Pradesh. But she confined her campaign to Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Modi was also involved in a wordy duel with Samajwadi Party when he said one should have a "56-inch chest" to make UP like Gujarat, inviting a "56-inch belly retort".
