Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi holds a roadshow in Varanasi
On the last day of campaigning in Varanasi,
Rahul Gandhi, the Congress vice-president, held a roadshow in India's holiest city, from where
Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, is contesting his first parliamentary election.
Mr Gandhi, 43, is leading his party's unlikely bid for a third straight term in power. His arrival in Varanasi is payback for Mr Modi's visit to Amethi last week, which Mr Gandhi has represented in Parliament since 2004.
Varanasi, one of the final contests in the world's biggest election, will choose between two of India's most talked-about politicians.
(Elections: full coverage)If the BJP's plan is successful, Mr Modi will emerge next week as Varanasi's member of parliament and India's prime minister. Opposing him is anti-corruption champion
Arvind Kejriwal, who six months ago prevented the BJP from forming the Delhi government in a stunning electoral debut.
"Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal can hold an air show... a road show... but Varanasi has made up its mind," said the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad in Varanasi, about 400 kms east of Delhi.
Mr Modi, refused permission by the Election Commission to hold a rally in the heart of Varanasi on Thursday, retaliated with a drive-through. The huge crowds that assembled to watch his convoy, many of them cheering slogans in his support, meant his four-kilometre journey took three hours. "You cannot stop me," he had said earlier at a rally on the outskirts of the city.
(Modi in Varanasi: 4 Kilometres in 3 Hours And a Show of Strength)Mr Kejriwal held his own roadshow on Friday. While his campaign events have been dwarfed by Mr Modi's, the 44-year-old has drawn support from Muslims, who account for around 13 per cent of Varanasi's population. He is holding another road show today morning.
Named along with Mr Modi as one of
Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, Mr Kejriwal said at one rally, "This is not my fight, it's everyone's fight who wants India to be free of corruption."
(In this poll, Modi is second to Kejriwal)Mr Gandhi campaigned for the Congress candidate, Ajay Rai, but the Varanasi election is being seen as a direct contest between Mr Kejriwal and Mr Modi. (
Congress fields Ajay Rai, MLA from Varanasi)
Opinion polls show the Congress will be served one of its worst results ever, and that the BJP, powered by Mr Modi, will get the maximum seats.
Last month, when Mr Modi drove in an open-top truck to file his nomination papers in Varanasi, the streets were packed.
"It doesn't so much feel like the BJP has sent me here but rather that Mother Ganga has summoned me," Mr Modi had declared.
(Varanasi at his side, Modi delivers biggest road-show in world's largest election)