New Delhi: Amid reports that most its senior leaders are staying away from assembly poll campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, BJP on Friday cleared the air on the issue saying its top brass will "camp" in the state for a month beginning next week.

Scoffing at suggestions that party President Nitin Gadkari has been left to handle the campaign following differences on a variety of reasons, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said here that "all leaders" will campaign in UP after ending their tour programmes of Uttarakhand and Punjab next week. "They will camp in UP will be in news for the next one month," he said.

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 incharge 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.

PTI