A long, divisive and tense poll campaign stretching over two months concluded on Tuesday as campaigning for the fifth and final phase of the high-stakes election came to a close in the evening.

Politicians from around 60 parties, primarily from the two major alliances - the National Democratic Alliance and the Grand Alliance - criss-crossed the diverse terrain of the state to reach out to 6,68,26,658 voters spread across the 243 Assembly segments.

Wherever they stopped to address public meets, poll rallies or road shows, they wrote new chapters by launching fierce verbal assaults on their rivals, at times even prompting the Election Commission (EC) to warn the leaders concerned.

Though neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor chief minister Nitish Kumar received any warning from the Election Commission to exercise restraint, a number of their generals including BJP president Amit Shah, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi were reprimanded at some point or the other for their irresponsible statements.

FIRs were also lodged against Lalu and Sushil, among others, for violating electioneering norms.

Even on the concluding day of electioneering, Lalu was heard telling journalists in his inimitable style: " Kal Narendra Modi bole hain Lalu-Nitish ka chhe din shesh reh gya hai, to chhathi ka doodh hum log yaad kara denge Modi ji ko (Yesterday Naredra Modi said just only six days are left for Lalu and Nitish. But we would ensure they are reduced to complete helplessness in these six days)."

In Darbhanga, Nitish had said: " Har Har Modi is passe, people now chant arhar Modi (a take on the rising prices of pulse).

Not to be left behind, Sushil Kumar Modi, in his closing remarks, also in Darbhanga, said: "When we form the government, we will open charwaha schools (for children of cow herds that Lalu had opened earlier) and get Lalu's sons admitted in them."

Name-calling

Prime Minister Modi confeferred creative monikers to Nitish and Lalu when he said: Mujhe to pata hi nahin chalta hai ki Chandan Kumar kaun hai aur Bhujang Prasad kaun hai (I can't make out who is sandalwood and who is snake). The basis was a tweet from Nitish that had led to some discomfort within the Grand Alliance before matters were sorted out. Asked by somebody on Twitter how he would ensure development by being with Lalu, Nitish had replied saying: "Jo rahim uttam prakruti, ka kari sakt kusang. Chandan vish vyapat nahi, lipte rahat bhujang (Evil company can do no harm to a virtuous person/just as poison does not affect the sandalwood even if cobras are entwined in it)."

Lalu countered the Bhujang Prasad jibe by calling Modi a " Brahm Pisach (a dangerous ghost)" and Amit Shah a "Narbhkashi (man-eater)". Further, Modi described the RJD as "Rojana Jungleraj Ka Dar (Fear of lawlessness everyday)" and the JDU as "Janata ka Daman aur Utpidan (Oppression and suppression of people)."

Lalu described the BJP as "Bharat Jalao Party (Burn India Party)". Nitish referred to his bete noire Jitan Ram Manjhi as "Vibhishan (Ravan's brother)".

Campaign battle

While Modi and Nitish led the battle from the front, senior leaders of both parties campaigned on the ground. Apart from around a dozen Union ministers like Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Upendra Kushwaha, Arun Jaitley and Smriti Irani, state leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi, Sushil Modi and Nand Kishor Yadav and others, too, held rallies on a daily basis for the NDA.

For the Grand Alliance, Lalu, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, JDU's Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav and JDU state president Bashishtha Narayan Singh were seen campaigning among others.

Traditional leaders apart, several cine stars were also seen at election meets. Hema Malini campaigned for the NDA. Ajay Devgn, too, addressed a handful of rallies for NDA, while actress-turned-Congress politician Nagma addressed rallies for the Grand Alliance. Several party presidents, including Amit Shah of the BJP and Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM, descended on Bihar. Shah camped in Patna and addressed rallies across the state; Owaisi camped in Seemanchal and campaigned for his candidates in six seats that go to the polls in the last phase.

From helicopters and campaign vehicles to country-made boats, the leaders used all possible means to travel to the hinterlands to seek votes.

Talking points

The focus of the leaders' speeches kept changing - from Bihari DNA to beef to reservation to tantrik to Pakistan. At a Parivartan rally in Muzaffarpur on July 25, Prime Minister Modi said Nitish's DNA seemed poor. Nitish was quick to pick on the DNA issue and present it as an insult to Bihari pride and talked about it on a number of occasions, besides sending around 50,000 DNA samples from people of the state to the Prime Minister's Office in Delhi.

Following the Dadri incident where a mob lynched a Muslim man on September 28 following rumours that he had slaughtered a cow and consumed its meat, "beef" entered the poll lexicon in Bihar and was on the soil for a long time. It gained further currency after Lalu and a senior RJD leader said beef was mentioned in the Puranas and that Vedic age sages consumed it.

Lalu's agda-pichda (forward-backward) propaganda and the Grand Alliance's reliance on backward caste votes in Bihar polls got a push after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, on September 21, pitched for a review of the reservation policy. Most Grand Alliance leaders kept talking about the issue in a bid to send a message among backward castes that the NDA would do away with reservations if it came to power in Bihar.

On October 24, a video showing Nitish meeting a tantrik (sorcerer) went viral after which it remained a talking point in the poll fray and even Prime Minister Modi said at a rally that the tantrik is the fourth Grand Alliance partner (after Nitish, Lalu and Sonia).

Lastly, even Pakistan became a talking point for leaders after Amit Shah said, on October 29, that there would be fireworks in Pakistan in case the BJP loses in Bihar. Later, Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy released a snapshot of Pakistan daily Dawn's web edition showing a Google ad of Nitish on it.

Technology

Electioneering in Bihar saw the advent of several new technologies to reach the electorate. Lalu was seen Dubsmashing, videos were uploaded on Youtube showing Nitish meeting the tantrik and leaders took part in Q&A sessions on Facebook and Twitter.

As far as campaign vehicles are concerned, the parties used cycles as well as high-tech Parivartan (BJP) and Swabhiman (JDU) raths, which were fitted with GPS and LED screens among other gizmos.