The BJP is also faced with the target of quelling resentment in certain quarters over senior leaders being denied party ticket in these elections.
The remarks didn't go down well with the opposition leaders, who found it as yet another attempt by Modi to polarize Hindu voters.
Taking a dig at SP-Congress alliance, PM Modi said that the ruling party has entered into an alliance with the fear of losing power.
Rajiv Gandhi (46) runs a photocopy shop along with his younger brother Sanjay. Declining to reveal which way he will vote, Rajiv said, "Our family elders short-list candidates and we follow their advice."
"Election is a national festival and I urge people to turn up to vote and also encourage their neighbors, friends, relatives to vote," the Union Home Minister said.
Politics is a game of convenience, contradiction and compulsion, Gadkari said regarding the Congress-SP coalition.
More and more SP candidates want her to address their campaign rallies
Uttar Pradesh elections 2017: Amit Shah believes the BJP is set for a clear majority — even if not many in his party agree.
The special court, on Thursday, had granted custody parole to Mukhtar Ansari from February 16 and till March 4 to campaign.
The BSP is also facing a strong challenge to woo non-Jatav Dalits to improve its performance in the region, where Jatavs — the party’s loyal supporters — are outnumbered by the Pasis.
In 2012 assembly polls (post-delimitation), the BJP bastion of Lucknow Cantonment fell to the Congress
UP polls 2017: Both phases cover 89 seats in eastern UP, a region with a signficant share of Muslim voters.