Watch: Yogi Adityanath says don’t make UP a Kashmir, Bengal or Kerala

Lucknow, Feb 10: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday appealed to voters to cast their votes to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for a "crime-free, fear-free, riot-free" state.

"Today is the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. This ritual of polling will be incomplete without your (voters) contribution. Your one vote will strengthen our resolution of a crime-free, fear-free, riot-free Uttar Pradesh. That's why 'vote first' then do any other work," Adityanath tweeted in Hindi.

In an almost six-minute long video shared from his personal Twitter handle, Yogi Adityanath said that a vote for the BJP would guarantee a fear free life. There is a lot in my heart, I want to tell you. A lot of great things have happened in the past five years. Be careful. If you miss the labour of these five years, everything will be spoilt. It will not take much time for UP to become Kashmir, Kerala and Bengal, he said.

Your vote will be a blessing on my efforts of the last five years. The time for a big decision has come. In the last five years, the double engine government of the BJP has done everything with dedication and commitment. You have seen and heard everything in detail, Yogi further added.

The battle for Uttar Pradesh began on Thursday with polling at 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts in the western part of the state.

Polling started at 7.00 AM and will continue till 6.00 PM, officials of the state election commission said here.

Campaigning in the constituencies going to vote in the first round of the seven-phase election in the politically crucial state ended on Tuesday evening. Ministers whose fate would be decided in the first phase include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain.

As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.28 core voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women are eligible to caste their francise