The SP-Congress alliance’s charge was spearheaded by Akhilesh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
BSP supremo Mayawati reached out to minority voters and said she will prove pollsters wrong as she did in 2012, when they had predicted her defeat.
In the hill state of Uttarakhand, around 74.20 lakh voters will decide the fate of 628 candidates as 69 out of 70 assembly constituencies spread over 13 districts go to polls.
Polling in Karnaprayag seat has been put off to March 9 following the death of BSP candidate Kuldeep Singh Kanwasi in a road accident on Sunday.
Congress and BJP are locked in a straight contest in most of the seats but the presence of about a dozen rebel candidates in the fray as independents and the saffron party fielding former Congressmen may upset the calculations.
Rahul held two public meetings in Rishikesh and Someshwar besides a 75-km roadshow in Haridwar district which has the maximum number of 11 constituencies in Uttarakhand.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has gone all out to woo voters by holding several public meetings and roadshows on daily basis in perhaps the most crucial election of his career.
A total of 30,000 security personnel including 105 companies of central armed police force, 25 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary, Uttarakhand police and the homeguards have been deployed. For the first time voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in these elections in Uttarakhand.
The BJP has been attacking the ruling parties in both the states over corruption. Modi raised the issue of demonetisation and surgical strikes repeatedly at his rallies.
