Yogi Adityanath represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat five times in a row till he was made the chief minister last year after the BJP swept the assembly polls. That win came three years after the BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, riding on the "Modi wave". This time, the chief minister has campaigned extensively for BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla who is the party's regional head.