Hyderabad: With only five days left before campaigning ends in Telangana’s assembly election, the major parties were going all out in a last ditch bid to woo voters.

While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to address a mammoth rally in Hyderabad on Monday, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the star campaigner of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), was scheduled to address a big election rally at Secunderabad Parade Grounds on Sunday. Apart from Modi, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Amit Shah, and several union ministers and top party leaders, were also visiting different parts of the state to canvass support.

Meanwhile the People’s Front alliance, led by the Congress party, was also not leaving any stone unturned.

Happy with the enthusiastic response to Sonia Gandhi’s maiden election meeting at Medchal last week, the party has decided to utilise her services one more time.

She will take part in the campaign and address meeting at different places in the state on December 5, the last day of the campaign.

Before that, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to address election meetings in Tandur and Gadwal while former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also address the meetings in Hyderabad and other places.

Apart from Sonia and Rahul, the Congress party has also fielded many important leaders including leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Malikarjun Kharge, party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Siddhu and the former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin.

While the burden of the campaigning for the TRS was largely carried by the caretaker chief minister and party supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who addressed up tofour meetings per day, and his son and minister K Taraka Rama Rao, at the last minute the party has also decided to press into service minister T Harish Rao.

A nephew of the chief minister, Harish Rao was kept off the list of the star campaigners of the party initially and was confined to his own constituency Siddipet as well as KCR’s constituency Gadwal. However, amid indications of shifting odds for the TRS in the face of a united opposition, the ruling party has now brought Harish into action and has even provided him with a helicopter to cover as many constituencies as possible.

He was the only party leader other than the chief minister to get the helicopter in the campaign. Party sources said he would cover the districts of Nizamabad, Warangal and Nalgonda where party was facing a tough challenge.

Interestingly KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha, who is also a Member of Parliament, was confining her self to the 12 assembly constituencies in her own Lok Sabha constituency Nizamabad.

The TRS was also getting an helping hand from All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and MP Aasduddin Owaisi who addressed several meetings in support of the ruling party candidates.

“There are many reasons for our support to KCR, most significant of them was his success in maintaining communal peace in Hyderabad city”, Owaisi said.

Addressing another election rally in old city, his younger brother and MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi said, “both Congress and the BJP were trying to wipe out the smaller and regional parties to establish their monopoly. But we want a third force to strengthen to maintain the balance of power. That is why we are supporting the TRS”.

For Telugu Desam, which as a constituent of People’s Front was contesting 14 assembly constituencies Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has also thrown himself into the campaign. On Saturday he was back in Hyderabad and participated in road show in Rajindernagar and Manikonda in the heart of the hitech city which was developed during his tenure as the Chief Minister of undivided AP. With a few exception most of the rallies, meetings and road shows of all the leaders were well attended with people turning up in big numbers to listen to the speakers without giving any clue of which party was going to get their favour.