Lok Sabha Election 2019: Roadshows, star power add final touch

As the adage goes, there is no gain without pain. The saying also holds true for candidates in Mumbai's Lok Sabha constituencies, who sweated it out notwithstanding the sweltering heat and rolled the dice in the hope of a favourable outcome, on Friday.

In a mix of modern and traditional, candidates focussed on house-to-house contact, corner meetings, padyatras, road shows, distribution of voter slips, and also stepped up their outreach using social media. The aim was to reach a maximum number of voters before the campaign bugle was silenced for the D-day.

The campaigning will be over at 5pm on Saturday as the polling is slated for April 29.

The BJP and Shiv Sena alliance had pinned their hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Bandra-Kurla Complex on Friday. It is expected to mobilise voters in large numbers in support of their candidates.

On the other hand, the Congress party has roped in their Central and state leaders to address meetings in the city. This is because party president Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi could not spare time for road shows or rallies due to the paucity of time and logistical limitations.

The Nationalist Congress Party, which is contesting from north east Mumbai, has deployed former ministers and legislators to address corner meetings and hold area-wise interactive sessions.

Some candidates like Shiv Sena nominee from south central Rahul Shewale took a suburban train ride to appeal to the commuters to vote for him. On the other hand, Congress candidate from the same constituency Eknath Gaikwad held meetings with citizen groups at various locations.

In north east Mumbai, BJP candidate Manoj Kotak had a busy day since morning as he met Gujarati community members from Bhandup and traders from Ghatkopar. He was also occupied with giving final touches to make the visit of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani slated for Saturday morning successful.

Kotak's rival and NCP nominee Sanjay Patil took part in a bike rally between Mulund and Ghatkopar. NCP MP Supriya Sule also met a group of voters in her constituency.

Punjab Minister and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt rendered their star power to Congress nominee Milind Deora in south Mumbai. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant took out a padyatra.

In north central Mumbai, BJP MP Poonam Mahajan and Congress nominee Priya Dutt held interactive meetings while Congress nominee in north west Mumbai Sanjay Nirupam held a road show and padyatra. The leading Govinda group Jai Jawan put up a pyramid of seven layers with an appeal to vote for Sanjay Nirupam.

Shiv Sena veteran leader and MP Gajanan Kirtikar in the same constituency held a roadshow in a chariot .

North Mumbai constituency is in the news after Congress has fielded Bollywood star Urmila Matondkar against BJP MP Gopal Shetty. Both devoted their time for padyatras and corner meetings.

NO STONE UNTURNED

• The Congress party has roped in their Central and state leaders to address meetings in the city 
• The NCP has deployed ex-ministers and MLAs to address corner meetings 
• Some candidates like Shiv Sena nominee from south central Rahul Shewale took a suburban train ride to appeal to the commuters