Mufti, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from this constituency in 2014, is being challenged by state Congress chief G.A. Mir and former judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference.
"The BJP is misleading the people in the name of religion. Ahead of elections they are using it as a tool to divide the masses in Bengal. The culture of Bengal never supports the politics of violence. They are taking out rallies with swords and mace," Banerjee said at an election rally in Darjeeling in support of TMC candidate Amar Singh Rai.
"A saint has come to your door. When a saint comes to beg and is not given what he asks for, he takes away all the happiness of the family and in turn curses the family.
Raising questions on the poll panel's independence and impartiality, Naidu told reporter outside the EC headquarters here that the level playing field -- an essential attribute of democracy -- "now stands disturbed".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the 'Modi factor' was writ large across the country during the first phase of elections and multi-cornered contests in several states favoured the ruling BJP.
"I have a question. Why all the thieves have Modi in their names whether be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Narendra Modi? We don't know how many more such Modis will come out," Gandhi said.
There is a talk in political circles that although the seat has been a BJP bastion from the 1990s, a strong opponent could have given a tough fight to Shah.
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