The SP stormed the BJP bastion in 2012, winning seven of the nine Lucknow seats and wants to do even better this time. Union home minister Rajnath Singh after casting his vote at PWD in Lucknow, India, on Sunday, February 19, 2017. Till the SP drove it out, the City of Nawabs, as Lucknow is popularly known, was a BJP bastion. His absence was felt when two years later the BJP surrendered its Lucknow West citadel to the Congress in a bypoll. Singh was expelled from the BJP for his derogatory remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati.

Source: Hindustan Times February 19, 2017 10:30 UTC