14 October,2014 04:32 AM IST | | Priyanka Deshpande
With padyatris serving as their infantry, energetic bike rallies and door-to-door visits, candidates contesting the assembly polls gave it their all to impress voters on the last day of campaigning yesterday
Congress candidate
Yesterday was the last day of election campaigning and leaders were seen pulling out all stops to convince the electorate to vote for them. With the gruelling month-long campaign schedule coming to an end yesterday, candidates did feel the burden lifted off their shoulders, but will now have to wait anxiously for the results on October 19.
Two-wheeler campaign: A Congress candidate's road show in the city yesterday. Pic / Shashank Sane
mid-day spoke to a few candidates to find out how the last leg of the campaign race went for them. Madhuri Misal, sitting MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Parvati constituency, said, "So far, I had been holding door-to-door meetings with the voters. On Monday, I had a different plan in mind and stuck with it. I started off with a bike rally in the morning, which ended at Maharshi Nagar exactly 15 minutes before the campaign deadline. I covered all the ten segments in my constituency which, I am sure, will have an impact on the voter."
Anil Bhosale, the NCP candidate from Shivaji Nagar constituency
Kishor Shinde, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) candidate from Kothrud assembly segment, said he preferred taking the traditional route with his padyatras. "Although, I had contested for the 2009 assembly elections from the same (Kothrud) constituency, I have put in a lot of effort to regain that rapport with the voters. However, on the last day, I decided to go with the traditional method of campaigning and started my padyatra from Sangam Chowk in Kothrud constituency," he said.
Madhuri Misal, the sitting BJP MLA candidate from Parvati constituency
Prashant Badhe, Shiv Sena candidate from Kasba constituency, decided to make one last impression by revisiting pockets where Muslim voters are in large numbers. "I first reached Ganj Peth, which has a significant Muslim population. I have visited all these areas a earlier as well but the effect of last-minute campaigning is always more than the routine campaigning process," said Badhe.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate from Shivaji Nagar constituency, Anil Bhosale, said that he had managed to cover all the pockets in his area. "I also held a massive bike rally so that I could cover the entire constituency in a few hours," he said.
