After four phases of polling, prime minister Narendra Modi, in an apparent change of tactic, on Saturday appeared to be soft on BSP supremo Mayawati and addressed her as 'behenji' even as he sought o create a rift in the grand alliance, which was posing a stiff challenge to her party in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing an election rally at Pratapgarh, about 175 kilometres from here, Modi said that the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress had ''tricked'' Mayawati.

''SP ne gathbandhan ke bahane behen Mayawati ka fayda utha liya....unhe andhere mein rakha....PM bana dene ka vada kiya,'' (SP took advantage of Mayawati in the garb of alliance...she was kept in the dark....she was promised the post of prime minister), Modi said.

''Mayawati has now understood the trick,'' he remarked.

The prime minister said that the SP was ''soft'' on Congress but Mayawati had been attacking the grand old party publicly.

''Congress leaders shared stage at an SP rally,'' he said apparently referring to the presence of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a rally organised by SP MLA Manoj Pandey in Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi a few days back.

Modi also listed the achievements of his government during its five-year tenure and exuded confidence that BJP was poised to return to power after the general elections.

SP leaders, however, rubbished Modi's remarks and said that the latter was trying to ''confuse'' the supporters of the alliance. ''BJP is going to lose heavily in UP...Modi has seen the writing on the wall and is now trying to confuse the voters.....he will not succeed,'' said a senior SP leader here.

Some political analysts felt that it might have been an attempt to keep Mayawati in good humor by Modi as her support might come handy in the event of a fractured mandate.