This Article is From Feb 01, 2015

Poll Fever Grips Delhi: PM Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sonia Gandhi Hit the Road

Poll Fever Grips Delhi: PM Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sonia Gandhi Hit the Road

The AAP rally in progress at Delhi's Connaught Place.

New Delhi:

With only six days to go before the assembly elections in Delhi, all three leading parities intensified campaigning on Sunday -- the last holiday before the polling day.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah led the BJP charge - addressing four rallies across the capital between them -  the Congress countered with one rally by party president Sonia Gandhi and two by its Delhi face, Ajay Maken.  

The Aam Aadmi Party, meanwhile, held a huge rally in the heart of the city - Connaught Place - complete with flash dancing crowds, music, masks and caps.

Party chief chief Arvind Kejriwal was to address crowds at four points of the city, but AAP planned an activity at every alternate gate of the metro in the inner circle - street plays, dances, painting exhibitions and stand-up comedy. The star campaigner of the day was actor politician Gul Panag, who was accompanied by actors and celebrities from the small screen.

Hundreds of AAP volunteers carrying guitars flooded the Inner Circle. Several groups broke into impromptu dance to the theme of "Paanch Saal Kejriwal".

The BJP was not far behind. Several members of the party's student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, were seen getting into a face-off with AAP supporters. The Delhi Police had to step-in to stop a confrontation.

Campaigning, however, was going on in earnest at the Congress and the BJP rallies.

While PM Modi launched a blistering attack on the Congress and the AAP for "spreading lies and falsehoods", Mrs Gandhi targeted the Centre over what she said was its failure to deliver on the promises of black money and "acche din".  

Though Mrs Gandhi, without naming Mr Kejriwal, described him as a "dharnabaaz", she chose her words carefully to talk about AAP's failure to run the Delhi government with outside support from the Congress the last time.

In 2013, the Congress failed to reach double digits as AAP had made a huge dent to its traditional support base among the low income groups and those living in JJ colonies, with the promise of reducing power bills by half and providing free drinking water.

Delhi's former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who had been missing from the Congress' campaign, made her first appearance today at Mrs Gandhi's rally.  

Party old-timers Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, both named in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, were also seen at the rally ground. But they didn't share the dais with Mrs Gandhi.

The BJP was four short of a majority in the elections held 13 months ago.

The second largest party, AAP, had formed a rickety government with the support of the Congress. But after 49 days in office, Mr Kejriwal resigned as chief minister over the Lokpal Bill issue, leading to President's Rule and fresh elections.

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