Lucknow: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on May 21 set the Lok Sabha election mood, making a fervent appeal to the people to vote for him and his party on the basis of his government's performance.

"When considering whom to vote in the coming elections, people should not view my performance as Prime Minister in isolation, but also give due importance to my party," he said after inaugurating 22 ambitious schemes worth about Rs 1,000 crore for development of his Lok Sabha constituency.

The Prime Minister's appeal came shortly after a similar plea was made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to the people of Lucknow constituency to ensure the victory of Vajpayee in the next Parliamentary elections by a bigger margin than last time.

Keeping in mind the enormous work done by Vajpayee for all-round development of the state capital, people should solidly stand behind him in the coming elections and ensure that his victory margin was bigger than last elections, she had said.

The Prime Minister lauded the performance of Mayawati government, saying it was fully aware of the needs of the common people and was committed to make a distinctive change in society.

"We are getting all co-operation from Mayawati in developing the state and she has been providing positive suggestions for the purpose," he said ensuring all help to the state government for redressing problems faced by the people.

Recalling his recent visit to Manali, Vajpayee said people were sceptical that as Himachal Pradesh had now a non-BJP government, the Centre would discriminate against it.

All their doubts were proved wrong when a development package was announced for the state, he said adding he did not believe in discrimination against states on the issue of development.

The country's progress could be ensured only when the entire nation marches ahead, he said.

"However, due to faulty planning in the past, some states like UP lagged behind and efforts are now on to rectify this," he said.

Expressing satisfaction over development works being carried out in his constituency, Vajpayee said he was seeing a marked change in the state capital, especially after the Gomti action plan to clean the river.

"We promised to clean the river, which is the lifeline of the city and this has been achieved to a large extent," he said.

Promising that no part of the country would be allowed to lag behind and the progress of Uttar Pradesh would be ensured, Vajpayee said it was important the city should be on par with developed cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.

He asked Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri and the Chief Minister to look into problems faced by the students.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of 22 different projects including a new rail terminus in the state capital and a biotechnology park.

Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and Union HRD Minister M M Joshi spoke on the occasion and pledged their co-operation in development of Vajpayee's constituency.

PTI