Curtains came down Sunday on the campaign in 57 Bihar assembly constituencies going to poll in the first phase on October 18 with top leaders of the contesting political parties making last-ditch efforts to sway voters in their favour.
With the end of the campaign, the stage is set for the battle of ballots for nearly 550 candidates left in the fray for the first phase in which polling will be held in 57 constituencies .
Four constituencies in Naxalite-hit Gaya district have been excluded from the first phase and polling there will be conducted there on October 21.
The campaign, which was low key initially due to Dussera, gained momentum only in the last three days with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani and Janata Dal-United chief George Fernandes joining the exercise.
The campaign was marred by violence starting with the attack on former Union minister Ravi Shanker Prasad while he was addressing a rally at Nokha and ending with a criminal arrested with a revolver from the venue of a meeting of Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav at Purnea.
