Campaigning for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election ended at 5 pm on Monday.
With this, the hustle and bustle of canvassing that began two months ago and peaked on Monday came to an end.
This has been the most keenly fought and most expensive campaign Madhya Pradesh has ever seen.
The Ruling BJP dazzled the state’s voters with huge expenditure on surfeit of advertisements and campaign materials.
The Congress, though lagged behind in advertisements, matched its main rival in spirited campaigning through rallies and road shows.
The keen contest saw top guns of rival political parties fervently wooing voters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 10 meetings while Amit Shah had camped in the state a fortnight ago to supervise the poll management first hand.
On the other hand, Congress president Rahul Gandhi toured the state a dozen times, starting from September 17.
Polling in the state is slated on November 28 and the result will be declared on December 11.
Campaigning on social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp has also been banned.
Violation of the ban order will invite penal provisions under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1961, including maximum jail of two years or fine or both.
State election commissioner V Kantarao told reporters that under the Election Commission’s watch, the administration has geared up to identify suspected troublemakers.
Scrutiny of those staying in various hotels and other places has been stepped up from Monday evening, he added.
A total of 1.80 lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure a free and fair election.
Liquor shops across the state will remain closed till the voting is over on November 28 evening.
Liquor will not be served in hotels or bars till the ban is in force.
The election commissioner informed that three lakh employees including 45,000 women will be deployed in the polling booths.
In the Maoist-hit three seats in Balaghat district, polling will be held between 7 am and 3 pm.