27 choppers, star campaigners heat up poll battle in Barak

Special correspondent

SILCHAR, March 30: With poll date coming closer, the valley of Barak is now humming and buzzing with helicopters hovering over, landing and taking off with star campaigners of different political parties. Crowds are milling around to hear the oratory and rhetoric of the frontline leaders, sometime stale and boring. Weather god has not been unkind in the heat and dust of electioneering. The interplay of sun and shade and intervening drizzle have made the campaign pleasant.

 It was Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister, who kicked off the campaign after the poll date for assembly elections in this valley. It was all through a cloudy day when he addressed four rallies across. Badruddin Ajmal, AIUDF supremo, the lone captain of the party, has been virtually on a whirlwind tour hopping in all the constituencies to back up support for the candidates. rendra Modi, Prime Minister, who addressed the mammoth rally at Kaligar under not so scorching sun and a mild breeze blowing through, making it quite bucolic. Congress party clamoured for Soi Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to add grist to their poll mill.

 RaGa did come to lead charge of the campaign and addressed two rallies in a day. Nilambazar, his first destition, on Indo-Bangladesh border, was swept by sudden downpours which subsided in minutes, but the crowds covered themselves with plastic chares on heads. It was after that all cool, zest and gusto to listen to the oratory of Rahul Gandhi.

 To add colour, zest and gusto to the campaign, frontline leaders of BJP, Congress and AIUDF mahajote have lined up in this valley. Today was the day of Smriti Irani. In fact, since the declaration of poll date, they have started landing. Those to come are Nitin Gadkari and Amit Shah of BJP, Ghulam bi Azad of Congress, Nitish Kumar and Sarad Power of JDU and Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF. And in the three days ending on Friday, 27 choppers will land and take off, turning the poll battle into a show of wizardry and strength to beat one another.