Scoffing at suggestions that BJP President Nitin Gadkari has been left to handle the campaign following differences on a variety of reasons, party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said in New Delhi that "all leaders" will campaign in UP after ending their tour programmes of Uttarakhand and Punjab next week. "They will camp in UP...UP will be in news for the next one month," he said.
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Asked whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will also campaign, he repeated "all party leaders" will be in UP. Modi's name figures in the BJP's list of election campaigners in UP.
"Even I could not go top UP as I was busy campaigning in Uttarakhand. This does not mean that I skipped UP," Hussain said.
There was speculation about Modi's participation in the UP election campaign as his bete noire and former general secretary (organisation) of BJP Sanjay Joshi is one of the key figures in-charge of the party's election campaign in UP.
Modi had stayed away from the last BJP national executive as he was sulking over Gadkari's decision to bring back Joshi into the party who had to leave when a controversial CD had appeared.
Several BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh, including Murli Manohar Joshi, Maneka Gandhi and Adityanath, were unhappy about Gadkari's decision to induct former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Babu Singh Kushwaha, an accused in National Rural Health Mission scam in UP, into the party-fold. He has since decided against joining BJP till his name is cleared in the scam but has been campaigning for the party.
Former UP chief minister Rajnath Singh was said to be sulking over denial of ticket to son Pankaj Singh who was recently appointed as general secretary in UP, which led to a revolt in the state unit.
Some leaders in the state are also unhappy over the importance being given to Uma Bharti who rejoined BJP last year and is being fielded from Charkhari constituency of Mahoba district in Bundelkhand region of the state.
