The public campaigning for the Assembly elections ended on Thursday evening in Himachal Pradesh, which witnessed intense electioneering on the last day.
As the hill state goes to the polling booth on Saturday, the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are hopeful of a victory. This time, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too is trying to make its presence felt.
The Bharatiya Janata Party aims to break the ‘Riwaaz,’ the trend in the swing state where the incumbent government is always voted out. The party roped in Union minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda to address rallies in Sirmour and Kangra districts on the last day.
Prime Minister Modi, who made multiple visits to the state, too had highlighted the strength of its double-engine government and the development projects undertaken in the state to woo voters.
The Congress too left no stone unturned on Thursday as party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed a public meeting at Sirmour and took part in door-to-door campaigning in the state capital of Shimla. The party also held 'vijay ashirwaad' rallies in all 68 assembly segments. The Congress is hoping to bounce back to power in line with the state's tradition.
With the end of high-decibel campaigning end, the Election commission has imposed restrictions on leaders staying in Assembly constituencies where they are not voters.
Snowfall
There is fresh snowfall ahead of the polling day in Himachal Pradesh, triggering fears among parties that the weather will impact voters coming to the stations. The election department has also deployed teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at two tribal districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur along with parts of Chamba.
No exit polls
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has also issued a notification ordering ban on the broadcast and publication of exit-poll projections for poll-bound Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.
The poll panel issued a notification on Thursday prohibiting the publication of exit-poll projections in any print and electronic media from 8 am on November 12 and 5 pm on December 5.
