Lucknow, Feb. 23: His confidence in this teeming city is high enough, but the capital may not show the way for the rest of the state.

“Get over your lethargic mood. We have to face, perhaps, the toughest battle this time here in Uttar Pradesh,” Atal Bihari Vajpayee told party colleagues as he wound up his two-day tour of the heartland, where the BJP is hoping to win 60 of the 80 seats at stake.

In the 1999 general elections, the BJP had won from only 29 constituencies.

The Prime Minister, who met party workers and inaugurated a stadium of the Sports Authority of India before flying back to Delhi this afternoon, explained the challenge in Uttar Pradesh. “Elsewhere… there are straight fights between the BJP and the Congress. In Uttar Pradesh, it would turn out to be a multicornered contest,” he said.

But Vajpayee was confident about Lucknow — a constituency he has nurtured over the years — despite the slight decline in his victory margin in the last elections when he defeated the Congress’ Karan Singh. “I had got offers from many places to contest but I would surely field myself from here only,” he said.

Vajpayee has been winning from Lucknow since 1991. He got 48.11 per cent votes last time, down 9.71 per cent from 1998. Earlier, in the late fifties and sixties, he lost twice from here. “My political career is linked to the people of Lucknow. I lost, won and won. I owe my prime ministership to the people here,” he said.

Part of Vajpayee’s confidence in Lucknow emanates from the way he has nurtured the constituency. Lucknow has got projects worth Rs 3,130 crore, which include an overbridge and a road scheme for a biotechnology park. Recently, he launched a string of train services for improving connectivity. “However, Lucknow seeks more and, hence, voting Vajpayee becomes an imperative for us,” said B.S. Tiwari, editor of a local newspaper.

Vajpayee underplayed the “personality cult” being built around his name by party workers. “Have I become a cult figure?” he asked in response to a question when he met reporters this morning.

“I have not become any cult,” he emphasised. “We (in the BJP) work together and no one individual takes decisions.”

About slogans like “Atalji ka naam, Atalji ka kaam” (Vajpayee’s name and achievements), he said: “No, the party is not saying so.” The slogan was not complete, he added, without elaborating.

Temple talk

Vajpayee today said in Lucknow that the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya will not be an election issue. He hoped that efforts made to resolve the conflict would succeed, says PTI.

“Ram temple is not an election issue. It is linked to people’s emotions. We should resolve it. I hope efforts in this direction will succeed,” he said. Asked if temple construction would form part of the BJP’s manifesto, he said: “When the manifesto comes out, it will be before you.”