Guwahati: Hectic and high-pitched last minute canvassing amid soaring mercury levels marked the end of campaigning for Assam's six Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the third and final phase on April 24.
Candidates of different political parties along with independents braved the heat, with temperature rising to more than 40 degrees Celsius in many places, in an effort to woo voters at the last minute.
Candidates mostly focused on door-to-door meetings, processions, street-corner meetings, appealing through SMS and holding public meetings in some places with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi addressing a rally in Mangaldoi.
Altogether 74 candidates, including nine women, are in fray in the six constituencies of Kokrajhar(ST), Dhubri, Barpeta, Mangaldoi, Gauhati and Nowgong.
An electorate of 94,21,977, including 48,79,424 males and 45,42,553 females would exercise their franchise in 11,994 polling stations of which 920 are hyper-sensitive and 1,658 sensitive.
Security has been tightened across the constituencies following sporadic incidents of pre-poll violence in some areas with 195 companies of security forces deployed to conduct the poll process.
A strict vigil and alert is being maintained particularly in Kokrajhar constituency and in some parts of Mangaldai where the NDFB(S) is active and poll violence feared.
The highlight of the campaigning for the third phase was public rallies by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressing public rallies on the same day at Nowgong.
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