UP Election 2022: 'They celebrated as riots singed West UP': PM Modi targets Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow, Jan 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the opposition of inducing voters to "seek revenge" on the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, saying it was a far cry from the developmental policies of the Yogi Adityanath government. The rally will be broadcast across 98 mandals in 21 assembly seats in five districts of western Uttar Pradesh going to the polls in the first phase.

"The BJP Govt in Uttar Pradesh has taught the meaning of the law to the mafias and goons who used to consider themselves above the law. That is why these goons are desperate to come to power anyhow," PM Modi.

"We are working hard to bring about a change in Uttar Pradesh. On the other hand, they are looking for an opportunity to seek revenge from you (public). Seeking revenge is their ideology," PM Modi said.

"Five years ago, there were news of the migration of people every other day. Abduction & demand for ransom had ruined the lives of the middle-class and traders. The Yogi Govt has brought the state out of these situations in the last 5 years," PM Modi added.

"The illegal occupation of the homes, land and shops of the poor, Dalits, backwards and the downtrodden was a sign of socialism five years ago," he further said.

The BJP has its task cut out in Uttar Pradesh to break a jinx under which no party has won two consecutive assembly elections in the state after 1985.

Spread over seven phases, moving sequentially from the west to the east of the vast state, the 403-seat polls will have a major bearing on the 2024 parliamentary elections, when the party hopes to return to power in Delhi under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP had registered a landslide victory in 2017 assembly polls winning 312 seats on its own, and 325 if the those won by the allies are also counted. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party was a distant second then at 49.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party won 19 seats. Apna Dal (Sonelal) got nine, two more than the Congress tally. The SP has emerged as the major contender to power, and the Congress is under pressure to come up with better numbers, now that the campaign is under the direct charge of general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Uttar Pradesh will vote on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10 along with the four other poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.