Rajnath, who is facing a four-cornered fight, has two tasks at hand - first to maintain legacy of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and second to ensure a victory margin matching with his political stature.
Ever since the Ram temple movement, BJP has never lost the Lucknow seat. The people of the city had elected Vajpayee for five-times on the trot between 1991 to 2004.
Rajnath, a sitting MP from Ghaziabad, is facing challenge from former UP Congress state president and sitting MLA Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Joshi contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election, but lost to Lalji Tandon of BJP by a margin of 37,000 votes. Minister of State in Akhilesh government Abhishek Mishra and minister in previous BSP government Nakul Dubey are also in fray.
Mohanlalganj, which is adjacent to Lucknow seat, is witnessing a triangular fight between two former ministers Kaushal Kishore, R K Chaudhary and sitting SP MP Sushila Saroj.
