Tapping all channels of communication including SMS, emails, BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, word-of-mouth along with personal requests; most of his close friends doubled up as lobbyists to make sure Ashmit had a stronger vote bank than Manoj Tiwari.
Karan Johar tweeted and requested everyone he met to vote for Ashmit. Sister Amisha Patel sent out several messages requesting all Bollywood folks and her fans to vote for her brother. Sara Khan's husband Ali Merchant and evicted Bigg Boss participant Hrishant Goswami were among the strongest lobbyists for Ashmit.
Manyata and Sanjay Dutt fiercely supported him and asked their entire friend-circle to vote for Ashmit. All of his family as well as friends like Ishq Bector exhausted their 99 SMS's per week limit to save him.
Plus, the actors managing team swung into action and sent out mass messages requesting fans and friends for support with the SMS-votes. Even Veena Malik's fans were largely tapped.
But the biggest chunk of votes must have come from Gujarat. A mass SMS campaign called 'Save Aapno Gujjubhai' (Save Our Gujjubhai) was conducted in the state by Ashmit's managing team.
All this, while everyone thought Ashmit would lose out to Manoj Tiwari.