Lucknow, Feb 11 (IANS): Prominent candidates in the fray in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh elections on Saturday exuded confidence of victory.

Talking to reporters Pradip Mathur, the leader of Congress legislature party in the outgoing assembly said that people were in favour of the Congress-Samajwadi Party (SP) alliance and he will win with a wide margin.

Mathur scraped narrowly in the 2012 polls from Mathura.

Suresh Rana, one of the accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, after casting his vote in Shamli also expressed confidence of an emphatic win.

Rana justified his "there will be curfew after poll outcome" in Shamli, saying his statement was misunderstood as he meant the curfew for criminals and anti-social elements, once the BJP came to power.

Sangeet Som, the controversial lawmaker from Sardhana also expressed hope of receiving "blessings of the electorate like in the past".

Former state BJP president Laxmikant Vajpayee, who is party candidate from Meerut (City) also cast his vote earlier and expressed hope of a win.

A total of 839 candidates from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) along with independents are in the fray.

Over two crore voters will decide the fate of the candidates. The results would be out on March 11.