The tragic and sudden death of presidential candidate Eduardo Campos reset the path of a controversial campaign just two months before Brazil's national election.

While President Dilma Rousseff and rival Aecio Neves said they will temporarily halt their campaigns to attend Campos' wake, the latter's running mate Marina Silva remained mum on whether she would take his place, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

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Campos' small plane went down in Sao Paulo after they aborted a landing attempt due to bad weather in the area. He died along with his two pilots and four of his campaign staff.

A short BBC news clip on Campos' death may be viewed here:

Brazil's stock index went wild yesterday as investors scrambled to predict the effect of Campos' death on the October polls. The fluctuation between gains and losses yesterday reflected the uncertainty of the outcome of the elections. Some said Rousseff's candidacy would go down if Silva takes Campos' place, while others bett on Neves losing the election.

According to Eurasia Group director Christopher Garman, a Silva candidacy would increase the competitive level of the presidential election. He said Campos' death makes it more difficult for Rousseff to be re-elected.

Both Campos and Neves lambasted the way Rousseff handled the economy, which is now at its slowest pace in over two decades. During an interview aired before his death, Campos expressed his goal to slow down the nation's inflation rate to 4.5 percent.

Campos, a former Pernambuco governor, had been lagging behind Rousseff and Neves since April, when he chose Silva as his running mate. Based on an Ibope survey posted on August 7, Campos gained a 9 percent support, while Rouseff had 38 percent and Neves had 23 percent.

The rest of the presidential candidates had 6 percent, the Ibope poll said.

For now, the outcome of the October polls is impossible to predict and the next polls will be conducted after Campos' team chooses a new candidate, Ibope said. In addition, Joao Francisco Meira of election survey firm Vox Populi said the past polls showing the intention of the voters are now invalid.

Campos' coalition will probably decide on his replacement in four or five days, pubic administration professor Claudio Goncalves Couto said. Based on Brazil's electoral law, a coalition has 10 days to choose choose a replacement candidate.

TagsEduardo Campos, Dilma Rousseff, Aecio Neves, Bloomberg Businessweek, Ibope, Christopher Garman, Eurasia Group, Joao Francisco Meira, Vox Populi, Claudio Goncalves Couto