Lucknow: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her side, declared that the protests against her by right wing workers on her arrival at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency in Varanasi, "indicates they (the BJP) are going out of power".
"I have been attacked several times, shot at and beaten by sticks in past, but never bowed down... I am not coward, I am fighter," Ms Banerjee said at the rally in Varanasi, which is drawing eyeballs as the election in Uttar Pradesh draws to a close. Polling in Varanasi and its eight adjoining districts -- most which voted for the BJP in 2017 -- will be held on March 7.
"Attack on me by BJP workers when I arrived in Varanasi indicates they are going out of power," the Trinamool chief said at the Samajwadi Party rally.
Ms Banerjee faced protests from the right wing group Hindu Yuva Vahini on her arrival to campaign for Mr Yadav's Samajwadi Party.
Members of the right-wing group, founded by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about two decades ago, had waved black flags and raised slogans against Ms Banerjee when she was travelling to Dashashwamedh Ghat to attend the 'Ganga Aarti' on Wednesday evening.
As the right wing members gathered in front of her convoy and shouted slogans, Ms Banerjee got off her vehicle and stood on the road.
Later, Ms Banerjee sat on the stairs of the Dashashwamedh Ghat to watch "Ganga Aarti" in an apparent protest, refusing to take the chairs organized by her.
The Trinamool chief, who is trying to cultivate a pan-India appeal since her sweeping victory against the BJP in Bengal last year, is extending support to Mr Yadav, who she said, is a strong regional chief and therefore, the face of the opposition in the state.
For Uttar Pradesh, she had a simple message: If Bengal can do it (trounce the BJP) so can UP.
Mr Yadav held a major show of strength in Varanasi today with alliance partners Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Keshav Dev Maurya of the Mahan Dal, Krishna Patel of the Apna Dal (Kameravadi), Shivpal Yadav of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Chauhan of the Janwadi Party (Socialist) and the leaders of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party.
The rainbow alliance is hoping to play spoilsport for the BJP, which, along with allies, swept the region last time. The BJP won six of eight seats. One seat had gone to to ally Apna Dal (S) and one to Mr Rajbhar's SBSP, who has since changed camp and is now partnering Mr Yadav.
Besides 3 lakh Muslims, Varanasi also has over 3.25 lakh Vaisyas, Patels known locally as OBC Kurmi (2 lakh), Yadavs (1.5 lakh), Thakurs (1 lakh), Dalits 80,000 and other OBC castes 70,000.
In the circumstances, the small allies of Mr Yadav -- Apna Dal (K), Mr Rajbhar's SBSP have an important role to play. In the run-up to the election, influential OBC leaders Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan and others have crossed over from the BJP to the SP.