New Delhi: The campaign for assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra ended on Saturday with political leaders criss-crossing the two states to woo voters and boost poll prospects of their parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister and BJP Chief Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi were among national leaders who campaigned in the two states. NCP chief Sharad Pawar campaigned extensively in Maharashtra.
A total of 1169 candidates are in the fray in Haryana and voters will cast their ballot at 19578 polling stations. In Maharashtra, 3237 candidates are in the fray. The state has 96661 polling stations.
Voting in the two states will be held on October 21 and the results will be announced on October 24.
The elections are significant as it is the first assembly polls after Modi led the BJP-led NDA to a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year for a successive second term in office. It is also the first assembly polls after the BJP-led government’s decision to repeal Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the last day, Modi addressed a rally at Rewari and Sirsa in Haryana.
Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah held rallies in Maharashtra. State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held road show in Nagpur while NCP chief Sharad Pawar addressed an election rally in Satara.
BJP is in power on its own in Haryana and in alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
The BJP leaders targeted Congress on its past record in office and vociferously raised the issues of repeal of Article 370 and the efforts to boost national security.
The Congress and other opposition parties raised issues such as “unemployment”, “slow down in economy” and ” farm distress”.
BJP is contesting 150 seats in 288-member Maharashtra Assembly while its ally Shiv Sena has fielded candidates in 124 candidates. The remaining seats have been left for smaller allies.
Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra.
The elections to 90-member Haryana assembly will witness multi-cornered contest on several seats. The parties in the fray include BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).