Campaign ends with temple visits, roadshows and rallies

Ghaziabad/Noida: Candidates of various political parties crisscrossed their constituencies in a hectic last-minute attempt to enlist the support of voters as campaigning before the April 26 polls come to an end.
The curtains came down on a short but intense campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in the two NCR constituencies at 5 pm on Wednesday.
In Ghaziabad, BJP’s Atul Garg wrapped up his campaign with a 2km roadshow from Bajaria Gurdwara to Navyug Market in the old city.He was flanked by party MLAs Sunil Sharma (Sahibabad) and Ajitpal Tyagi (Muradnagar) and former GMC mayor Ashu Verma. Earlier in the day, he offered prayers at the gurdwara.
“This is already my constituency. They elected me twice, in the 2017 and 2022 assembly elections. There is no love lost, and the BJP will win the seat again. The challenge for us is to increase the victory margin as compared to the last Lok Sabha election,” he told TOI. In 2019, the BJP candidate won by a margin of over 5 lakh votes.
“All through the campaign, I have sought votes in the name of PM Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath. I am just their messenger,” Garg said. The roadshow passed through Ghanta Ghar, Anaj Mandi, and Chaupla before terminating at Navyug Market.
Congress’s Dolly Sharma, the INDIA alliance candidate, also campaigned in the old city areas. She was seen waving and greeting the crowd from atop an SUV as her cavalcade passed through Malliwara Chowk, Ambedkar Road, Dasna Gate and Ramtaram Road, before terminating at Ghanta Ghar, where she offered a floral tribute to a statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
“I had contested from the Ghaziabad seat in 2019 as well, but as compared to the last Lok Sabha election, the mood is upbeat and in favour of Congress. I have traversed the length and breadth of the constituency, meeting people, and holding roadshows and public meetings. Wherever I went, support was assured by people from all sections of society. BJP will bite the dust this time,” she said.
BSP’s Nand Kishor Pundir’s cavalcade crisscrossed through villages of Dhaulana assembly segment, halting to greet voters who had assembled along his roadshow route. “BSP has overwhelming support in this part of the constituency. My roadshow passed through Khera, Sikhera, Bajaria areas, and all through the campaign, we have received support from people,” Pundir said.
Fourteen candidates are in the fray from the Ghaziabad constituency. In GB Nagar, which is seeing a triangular contest between BJP’s Mahesh Sharma, SP’s Mahendra Nagar and BSP’s Rajendra Singh Solanki, a total of 15 candidates are in the contest.
Mahesh Sharma wrapped up his hectic campaign with a roadshow in Khurja, home to a significant Jat, Gurjar, and Rajput population. “People want to see Narendra Modi ji become the Prime Minister of the country for the third time,” Sharma, who is vying for a third term, said.
SP’s Mahendra Nagar, who held a 60km roadshow from Badalpur in Dadri to Sikandrabad, said he was happy with the response he received during the short span of the campaigning. “I got 26 days to campaign. I did my best and got overwhelming support. For the people, issues like employment, inflation, and corruption among others are of utmost importance and they want a government that is responsive to these issues,” Nagar told TOI.
Nagar greeted supporters as his roadshow traversed through Dadri Nagar, Chithera, Nai Basti, Beel, Kot, Luharli, Nagla, Hridaypur, and Sanwali before culminating at SP’s office in Sikandrabad.
Initially announced as the alliance candidate, Nagar faced opposition from within the party’s ranks and was briefly replaced by Rahul Awana. A Gurjar leader, most of his campaign was focused in the rural areas. Earlier in the day, Nagar's daughter, Nidhi, also appealed to the people to vote for her father. Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan and senior party leader Mukhiya Gurjar were the chief guests at the roadshow. SP also held a panchayat in Dadri’s Achheja.
BSP’s Rajendra Singh Solanki, meanwhile, held a roadshow from Chhajarsi Colony to Swarn Nagari in Greater Noida.
“Being a local, I have an edge over the other candidates. I didn’t have to introduce myself wherever I went,” he said.
A resident of Khurja, Solanki was a Congress MLA from Bulandshahr’s Sikandrabad constituency in the mid-80s. “There are over 1,400 villages in the GB Nagar constituency. I covered as many villages as possible in one month, but I am satisfied with the outcome,” he told TOI.
Meanwhile, district election officer Manish Kumar Verma said from 6 pm, there would be a ban on any kind of election campaign-related activities by political parties and their candidates.