District Collector and returning officer B B Swain today told Express Newsline that details of 1369 polling booths and more than 5,000 personnel had been finalised. The outcome of inquiries into a couple of tiffs between the Janata Dal, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party at Umarpada, Mangrol, Amod and Dediapada -- all of which had been reported in the past week -- were still awaited, he added.

Though electioneering has officially drawn to a close, a number of political heavyweights, including past chief ministers and current CM Keshubhai Patel, are still camping in the constituency, which covers three districts and 10-odd talukas, in a last-ditch attempt to whip up ballot support.

Incidentally, one would be hard-pressed to understand elections were imminent here had it not been for the leaders: there are no wall-writings, welcome arches or slogan-shouting.

For the parties, the electoral issues are crystal-clear, as are the battlelines. Rashtriya Janata Party supremo Shankersinh Vaghela and his not-so-vocal ally Chhotubhai Vasava of the Janata Dal concentrate on the tribal belt -- the Dal stronghold -- highlighting the alleged corruption of the Congress and the BJP's ``communal credentials''.

The Congress's Iqbal Kakuji, on the other hand, seems most at home in the northern parts of the constituency. He could look to AICC member Ahmed Patel, former chief ministers Amar Singh Chaudhary and Madhavinh Solanki, hoary party campaigner Sunil Dutt and many others for moral support in the past fortnight while harping on the Dal's alleged nexus with criminals and the BJP's ``failure-on-all-fronts''.

The BJP, however, seemed to have outdone everyone by virtually shifting Gandhinagar, including the Secretariat, to Bharuch. It has directly or indirectly hosted and lodged almost all state-level leaders, including ministers of all statues. According to an unofficial report, more than 10,000 party workers are at work here. All hotel, inns and government guest houses, needless to say, are full.

The elections could be governed by the voting patterns of the three most prosperous talukas of the constituency: Vaghra, Amod and Jambusar. The BJP has an edge over its rivals here, not because it has sold the predominantly Muslim-Patel-Darbar electorate the Hindutva idea or because inflation skipped by the region, but because hundreds of its workers are camping here, drawn mostly by its Jambusar MLA Chhatar Singh.

They are being supervised by known hardliners -- MP Jayaben Thakkar and MLA Bhupendra Lakhawala -- who predict a victory because ``of our hard work and the Congress's criminal and communal tendencies''.

Vaghra, too, presents a tense scene: If Jambusar Congress leaders, including Hasmukh Patel, Vikram Shah, M Pathan and M G Gujarati, blame the Bharatiya Janata Party for inflation and communalism, the Rashtriya Janata Party 's Yakubhai Nayan Patel and Mukesh Shukla apprehend bogus voting and other malpractices by the Bharatiya Janata Party. ``We've had to requisition more manpower because of this'', they said.

But they have an ace in Vaghra MLA Iqbal Patel, as more than 60 per cent of the electorate in the areas is Muslim. A high turnout -- anticipated, interestingly, by all three parties -- is likely to go in the Congress's favour.

The three talukas, covering more than 200 villages, have six known ``trouble spots'' and 60 sensitive booths.