(PTI)
The vitriol-filled campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended today with top leaders of the BJP and Congress, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, making a last-gasp effort to sway the voters in a likely cliffhanger. From corruption to communalism, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s Rs 70 lakh Hublot watch to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all.
Like all state polls since he assumed the reins of power in New Delhi, Modi helmed the BJP’s adrenaline-charged campaign despite the party having declared B S Yeddyurappa its chief ministerial candidate, while Rahul Gandhi helmed that of the Congress. Though Modi remained out of the electoral scene for a long time after addressing a public meeting in February, he launched a blitzkrieg on May 1, addressing over a score of rallies in his bid to wrest the key southern state, which BJP chief Amit Shah dubbed as the party’s “gateway to south”, from the Congress.
