UKIP leader Nigel Farage invokes Gandhi message at rally in UK

London: The UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage has invoked Mahatma Gandhi for inspiration as he insisted that his party's vote was "rock solid" in the General Elections.

Addressing a rally yesterday in Broadstairs Kent, Farage said Thursday was "the biggest day in my political career", with polls suggesting he faces a tight battle to win a Westminster seat.

Criticising the opponents of his Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party, the 51-year-old leader quoted Mahatma Gandhi, saying "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, and then you win," The Telegraph reported.

"Folks, the Ukip vote hasn't declined, the Ukip vote is rock solid," he said at his rally, claiming that the Ukip vote was a protest vote and that it was collapsing.

Citing another Gandhi's quote he said, "Whatever they say about us, we must turn the other cheek and not descend to their level, and that's what we have done."

Farage is involved in a three-way fight with Labour's Will Scobie and the Conservatives' Craig Mackinlay to secure the South Thanet seat.

The UK went to polls today with incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron's bid for a second term. His ruling Conservative Party was locked in a intense electoral battle with the opposition Labour in the country's closest election in decades.

UKIP was founded in 1993 by members of the Anti-Federalist League with the primary objective of securing the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.