Kejriwal hits campaign trail in Varanasi amid fears of communal polarisation

Rai went on to blame BJP of conspiring to put Muslim strongman leader Mukhtar Ansari in the fray so that minority votes get divided between him and Samajwadi Party. Rai had fought last Lok Sabha elections as a SP candidate, while Ansari was BSP candidate.

Since then, Ansari and his brothers have formed Qaumi Ekta Dal and is currently an MLA, while Rai is a Congress MLA right now. Ansari had earlier said he would fight against Modi, but recently decided against contesting Lok Sabha polls and has said he does not want anti-Modi votes to get divided.

Also in the fray is SP's Kailash Chaurasia, and BSP's Vijay Prakash Jaiswal and both the parties are putting their claims on minority, Dalit and backward votes.

SP's state secretary and UP Janjatiya Lok Kala Sanskriti Sansthan Chairman Manoj Rai Dhoopchandi said that the party would get huge support from minorities, backward and extreme backward caste voters as the state government has worked hard for their development.

"We are asking for votes on the basis of development work done by our government," he said, while accusing Kejriwal and Rai of trying to usurp SP's vote bank of minorities.