High voltage campaign ends

BHUBANESWAR: The high voltage campaign for the Umerkote by-poll came to an end this evening with whirlwind tours by senior leaders canvassing for the three serious contenders.Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh hit the campaign trail on the last day of the campaign to boost the chances of BJP candidate Dharmu Gond and counter the impact of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s campaign for BJD candidate Subas Gond on Friday.Singh showcased Chhattisgarh’s development model to counter the development plank of Naveen in his campaign. A number of senior BJP leaders, including State party president Jual Oram, who campaigned in the Maoist-hit constituency, came down heavily on Congress and BJD over issues such as  corruption in Centre and Odisha respectively.While Naveen addressed poll meetings at Umerkote and Raighar on Friday to seek votes for the BJD candidate, senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra virtually camped in the area and made extensive tours to ensure victory of the regional party. Besides, more than a dozen ministers and 30 MLAs camped in the constituency to canvass for the party candidate. Opposition Congress was also not far behind in its efforts to seek people’s support with senior party leaders, including former Union minister Jagdish Tytler, joining the electioneering. OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik too campaigned in the constituency.Slamming the BJD Government for growing corruption and a series of scams, including mining, the Congress leaders accused the Naveen Government of failing to utilise Central funds provided for several welfare and development programmes. Meanwhile, despatch of polling parties began this evening from here to 162 booths in Umerkote Assembly constituency.