On Thursday, it was the turn of the Congress's Sunil Dutt to hold a public rally, in the footsteps of AICC office-bearer Ahmed Patel. Wednesday saw former film star, BJP MP Vinod Khanna doing the rounds along with a number of his counterparts from Gujarati cinema. Janata Dal stalwarts H D Deve Gowda and Sharad Yadav have also toured the constituency, as will Ramvilas Paswan on Friday.

Despite the excitement in the air, at least for the parties in the field, catchy slogans coined by the various parties have failed to catch the predominantly tribal electorate's imagination. The Congress's Ek kachori, ek samosa, BJP tera kya bharosa and Sasta daru mahenga tel, BJP tera kaisa khel have no takers, while the BJP and the Janata Dal seem to have lost their target by trying to cover too many points at once.

According to State BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya, the party was contesting the by-polls on issues of national import. ``You want a Bharuch riddled with criminal and anti-national activities or a calm and cultured Bharuch'', one of his party pamphlet reads. The BJP terms the fight against Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad Yadav and the Congress as one against treason, distortion of culture, falsehood, social insecurity and communalism.

The Janata Dal is less fussy about its modus operandi. ``Tribals will vote for me to do away with poverty, inflation, suppression of tribals' and a secular representation'', says a confident Dal candidate Chhotubhai Vasava, three-time Jhagadia MLA, as he leaves for serial campaigns with Rashtriya Janata Party chief Shankersinh Vaghela in remote areas of Valia taluka.

He brandishes several instances to embellish his tirade against ``Congress corruption and BJP communalism''. But despite having an MLA in Dediapada -- a part of the Lok Sabha constituency -- and crucial last-minute help from the Rashtriya Janata Party, Vasava faced a tough fight.

Pandya says the voters are aware of the truth which, according to him, is that the BJP has come out of all the crises with flying colours. ``The price rise of onions and potatoes was temporary and was handled very well by the BJP'', he claims, adding that the salt-crisis was engineered by the Congress.

While hesitant to speak about the anti-minority cases, Pandya says they're ``old and diluted by now''.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel pooh-poohs the BJP claims, maintaining that the people have had enough of the BJP's repeated failures. There is no way that the Dal candidate would be elected either, he says, hinting that the field was wide open for party candidate Iqbal Kakuji, who lost to the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections by just 11,000 votes.

Kakuji has the support of the party's MLAs from Waghra (Iqbal Patel) and Mangrol (Raman Chaudhary), who till last week was with the Janata Dal.

``We didn't even seek the help of the RJP, which is completely dead today, though its supremo Shankersinh Vaghela approached us. To save his face and make his presence felt, he has joined the Dal'', Patel says.

While public interest in the elections is still low, chances of a poor turnout on November 25 are bright. But the party leaders are confident that the votes cast will be a referendum for the BJP. Much, they add, will depend on last-minute voting.

Despite the absence of any election fever, the police -- some 2,000-odd of them, double the number deployed in the last elections -- have begun flag marches in the constituency, where 70 troublesome spots and 300 sensitive booths have already been distinguished.