Rallies, road shows to woo voters for December 4 Delhi polls

Delhi witnessed over 25 rallies and scores of road shows on the penultimate day of campaign for the December 4 Assembly polls with major parties aggressively attempting to reach out to voters.

New Delhi: Delhi witnessed over 25 rallies and scores of road shows on the penultimate day of campaign for the December 4 Assembly polls with top leaders of major parties aggressively attempting to reach out to voters by making an array of promises and spelling out their vision for the city. BJP`s high-voltage campaign was led by party veteran L K Advani and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who lambasted Sheila Dikshit dispensation on various issues while appealing to people to use the opportunity to vote out the "corrupt" government which has been in power for 15 years.

"The Congress is completely submerged in corruption. The Sheila Dikshit government has totally failed to address any of the major problems in Delhi. You must oust it," Modi said addressing well-attended rally at Dakshinpuri in South Delhi. Prominent BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Amit Shah, Najma Heptullah, Vinod Khanna, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Navjot Singh Siddhu criss crossed Delhi holding scores of rallies in support of party candidates. The Congress` campaign was led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who addressed around seven election meetings during which she accused the opposition parties of misleading people of Delhi to grab power and asked people to vote for "continuity" and "inclusive development". "We have changed the face of Delhi in the last 15 years. But the task is not yet finished. We need your support to continue the development agenda," Dikshit said addressing a rally in Kamla Nagar area in Model Town constituency. In her third day of campaigning here, BSP supremo Mayawati also tried to win over voters by addressing two rallies-- one in Trilokpuri and another in Dwarka. She attacked the UPA government, alleging that its wrong policies has lead to rise in the prices of essential commodities which has hit the country`s poor and middle class hard. BSP had emerged as the third largest party in the last Delhi Assembly election in 2008 with a 14.05 per cent vote share. While its two candidates had won, the party is hopeful to win more seats this time around. The party has fielded candidates in 69 constituencies out of total 70 seats. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also addressed two rallies in support of the JD(U) candidates and tried to reach out to migrants and Purvanchali population which constitute around one-fourth of the 1.19 crore voters. "There are two Delhis. One is for the rich and second is for the poor. We have come to build this Delhi of poor people. Now that we have come we will help build this city," the JD(U) leader said. He said if people from Bihar and Purvanchal stop working, Delhi will stop functioning. JD(U) has fielded candidates in 27 of the 70 assembly seats. Aam Admi Party leaders also held several rallies and road shows and promised to root out corruption if the party was voted to power. The party, citing releasing result of a survey, claimed that it will win 38 to 50 seats in the polls. In her election meetings, Dikshit said Congress was on course to form the government for the fourth consecutive terms. She said Delhiites are mature enough to decide their future. "I am confident of a fourth successive victory as people of Delhi know our performance. People trust us and will vote for us," she said. Dikshit was Congress` lone prominent face to campaign unlike BJP which deployed almost all top leaders of the party to campaign in the city where the party has been out of power for last 15 years. Leaders of Akali Dal (Badal) and various smaller parties also campaigned today across the city which witnessed traffic snarls in various areas despite it being a Sunday. The campaigning will come to an end at 5 PM tomorrow.