AIMIM chairman Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the party was urging voters to vote on the envelope as the electoral symbol when he arrived in Varanasi and Mirzapur on Tuesday to support PDM candidates. Leading the Kurmi OBC party Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Krishna Patel teamed up with AIMIM, Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party, and Rashtriya Uday Party to form the PDM. The PDM, signifying picchda (backwards), Dalits and Muslims. "We are part of PDM in Uttar Pradesh and are appealing for PDM candidates wherever they are to cast their vote on envelop sign," said Owaisi while talking to ANI.

When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s allegation on Congress of making an attempt to reduce the reservation for Dalits, tribals and backwards and give it to Muslims, Owaisi said, "After the first phase, PM has restricted election to Muslims only, PM wants to tell that only Muslim votes and no other community votes. This is their (BJP) strategy, they want to hide their failures by showing Muslim fear and hatred. They have not provided employment, inflation is skyrocketing, and papers are being leaked in Uttar Pradesh. Their foreign policy is so incompetent that a country like Nepal marks Indian territory as part of theirs on the currency notes. Now the nation is watching all this and has understood that they want to abolish the Constitution"