Hope Modi will campaign in UP: Sushma

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said she hopes her Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleague Narendra Modi will campaign for the Uttar Pradesh elections amid reports that the Gujarat Chief Minister was "miffed" with the party's top brass.

Modi had reportedly pulled out of campaigning for the right-wing Hindu nationalist party for the critical Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh at least till Feb 12, in a move that was seen as a hint of fresh dissent within the party's top leadership.

Speaking to a television news channel, Swaraj, who herself has been out of action in canvassing for the ongoing five-state polls for being unwell, dodged a question on why Modi, prominent face of the BJP, was absent from campaigning.

"That only he can say [if he is upset]. I won't tell that...because I don't know about that. How can I say if he is upset? I hope he will come. Still there is time. Five more phases [of voting in Uttar Pradesh] are left," Swaraj said.

Saying that he is busy with his Sadhbhavana mission programme, a campaign to propagate peace and harmony in his state, Modi reportedly expressed his disapproval over the return of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Sanjay Joshi in BJP's UP poll canvassing.

Modi had also stayed away from the last BJP National Executive over BJP president Nitin Gadkari´s decision to re-induct Joshi into the party, report said, and was conspicuous from his absence during the party's campaigns in Uttarakhand and Punjab that went to vote Monday.

BJP veteran L K Advani however has said that there were no differences within the party with regard to the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and politically significant state, where the staggered seven-phase state Assembly elections began on Feb 4.

"There are no differences within the party with regard to the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Everybody is going (there) as per own convenience. We have many campaigners. And we are optimistic about it (campaign)," Advani was quoted as saying.