Lucknow is a stronghold for the BJP and it is seat which sent Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the Parliament. Home Minister and former BJP president Rajnath Singh had comfortably won the Lucknow seat in 2014 and is confident of his re-election this time around as well. His main opponent on the seat is a newcomer, SP's Poonam Sinha, wife of Congress leader and actor Shatrughan Sinha. SP is hoping to lure Kayasth voters by fielding Sinha, but the community has long supported BJP in Lucknow. The SP-BSP combine had asked Congress to not put up a candidate on the seat, but the grand old party has fielded the spiritual guru Acharya Pramod Krisham.

Both Congress and SP would be hoping to attract the sizable minority vote in Lucknow, but Singh' secular and clean image has won him support from Muslims in Lucknow seat as well.