AJ Vinayak The polling process for five State assemblies — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram — comes to an end on Friday.

While regional leaders, primarily the respective Chief Ministers, spearheaded the campaign in most places, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi have been on numerous rallies to woo the voting public.

An effort has been made here to see how Modi and Rahul steered the electioneering process through their public rallies and other formats from October 6, when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule for the five States, to December 5, when campaigning came to an end.

In the course of the 61-day campaigning process, Modi held rallies and addressed party workers over video-conference on 18 days. Comparatively, Rahul earmarked 27 days for rallies, road shows and other interactions with the public.

On October 6, Modi addressed a rally, Vijay Sankalp Sabha, at Ajmer. Subsequently, he addressed 30 rallies across the five States over November-December.

It appears that the BJP required Modi’s presence the most in Rajasthan. He addressed public rallies in 13 places there, against 11 in Madhya Pradesh, three each in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, and one in Mizoram.

In October, he also addressed the BJP workers of 11 parliamentary constituencies in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — among other States — through video-conferencing.

Rahul conducted 67 rallies and road shows during the period. This included interactions with the business community and professionals in Indore, and meetings with the management and teachers of government-recognised institutions at Shamshabad in Telangana.

While Modi focussed on Rajasthan, Rahul did on Madhya Pradesh, where he conducted 23 rallies and road shows. In fact, on October 6 itself, he addressed voters at Morena and Jabalpur in the State.

Rahul also conducted 14 rallies and road shows each in Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, and two rallies in Mizoram.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who was a rare presence during the campaigning, addressed a lone public rally at Medchal, Telangana, along with Rahul.

The result day, December 11, will reveal how effective the campaigns have been.